On January 19, TikTok is set to shut down in the United States, pending a Supreme Court decision on Friday to invalidate the bipartisan law banning the app in the U.S. unless its Chinese parent company agrees to sell it off. The app won’t immediately stop working on the 19th, and incoming President Trump could always choose to not enforce the law. But with ByteDance refusing to sell TikTok, the shut down seems likely.
As TikTok users post their favorite videos from the app, one prominent TikToker, “Soupy,” posted this viral rant decrying the impending ban.
As they brace for the ban, self-proclaimed TikTok “refugees” have flocked to Xiaohongshu, another Chinese short-form video app, prompting a cultural exchange of sorts.
The Ultimate Boss Battle
On Sunday, January 5, New York City enacted its much anticipated congestion pricing, charging passenger vehicles $9 to enter the core of Manhattan during peak hours. The reduction in traffic into and within the city in the first week of the program was immediate and drastic, shocking even congestion pricing advocates. Though detractors fear the impact on local businesses, the response has been largely positive, even among skeptics.
Morning in America
Dispatches from our terrible vibe shift:
“I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled… it’s a new dawn.”
Jesus, Take the Wheel
None of us can act too shocked that an NFL-representing country-singing white woman from Oklahoma is a Trump supporter, but for those of us who voted for her all the way back in 2005, this is nonetheless a disappointment.
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