Someone on Bluesky aptly described this as “the dog that caught the app“, as per dogs chasing cars but not knowing what to do if they catch one.

Unsurprisingly this is much the same problem that Ofcom in the UK faces: the world doesn’t work how people think it works, the people don’t want what they say they want.

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“Still, a White House official insisted that not enforcing the ban, if it is upheld, is not an option.”

…yeah, really? This is all about face-saving now, because it turns out that the government are switching off a bunch of beloved peoples livelihoods. The optics are not good. The government are killjoys. The American TikTok users are being driven to Chinese and Russian apps as alternatives to their existing communication networks, and from Monday they will be sideloading apps and installing VPNs.

The whole thing is a self-defeating clusterfuck. Ofcom, the UK Parliament, and especially the EU, should all take note.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-administration-keep-tiktok-available-us-rcna187902