Trump has vowed to ensure TikTok remains active in the United States without compromising national security.
Instagram is set to launch a new video editing app amid the challenges facing TikTok in the United States, with the service potentially set to rival a similar offering from TikTok’s parent company.
“Today we’re announcing a new app called ‘Edits,’ for those of you who are passionate about making videos on your phone,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a Jan. 19 Threads
post.
Edits will be like CapCut, a free video editing program from TikTok’s parent ByteDance, “but more for creators than casual video makers. Not just video editing, but an inspiration tab, idea tracking, and insights built in,” Mosseri
added.
The announcement was made after CapCut
ceased to be available in the United States. In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill giving ByteDance until Jan. 19, 2025, to sell its U.S. operations or be banned from the country.
Currently, the CapCut website shows the following
message:“A law banning CapCut has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use CapCut for now. Rest assured, we’re working to restore our service in the U.S.”
The platforms affected by the “divest-or ban” TikTok law include TikTok, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller Center, CapCut, Lemon8, Hypic, Lark-Team Collaboration, Lark-Rooms Display, Lark Rooms Controller, Gauth: AI Study Companion, and Marvel Snap.
At the Apple App Store, Edits is
listed as a free app available for pre-order, with an expected launch date of March 13.
Meanwhile, TikTok was made unavailable in the United States on the night of Jan. 18, but restored its access the following day after Trump announced support for the app’s continued availability in the country.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” Trump wrote in a Jan. 19 Truth Social
post.
“My initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50 percent ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose,” he wrote.
Earlier in a
brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, Trump asked for a pause to the TikTok ban, saying the Biden administration could be aiming to silence a social media platform “favored by tens of millions of Americans, based in large part on concerns about disfavored content on that platform.”
While announcing the restoration of service in a Jan. 19
post on social media platform X, TikTok thanked the returning president for taking “a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who owns X,
said that while he is against banning TikTok as it goes against freedom of speech, there is something that “needs to change.”
“The current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced.”
