Photo: Depositphotos

That sound you heard this past weekend was 170 million people hitting the roof at not being able to access TikTok for roughly 12-16 hours.

I didn’t use it personally but know of many people who do and why they gravitated to it so much. The stories come far and wide of people who built businesses, made new friends, discovered countless skills, cooked great recipes the list goes on. TikTok users were taken on a real emotional rollercoaster the past couple of days:

  • Announcement is made on 1/17 TikTok ban is upheld
  • TikTok goes offline (hours earlier than expected) and people really have to live without having access to the app
  • Announcement by Trump is made that he’ll extend an Executive Order to keep it in place and work towards a new solution
  • On Sunday afternoon some users had access to TikTok restored.

For something that was a daily and integral part of life for so many people, that’s a short window for many to move through those five stages of grief. And even once the app was restored, the emotions felt don’t really go away: they become memories, true souvenirs of what people felt and now must find a space to put those feelings.

I’ve always been taught that the best experience to learn from is someone else’s. In hospitality we often borrow from other industries to help attract guests and improve traveler experience overall. There are some reminders that the hospitality industry can take away from watching how this situation occurred:

This problem was completely predictable, it didn’t have to be this way

The TikTok ban was actually passed in April 2024, passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President Biden. To be fair what Congress did was attach the law requiring TikTok to be sold or be banned to a larger bill dealing with international aid (one of those passive-aggressive things that Capitol Hill/DC likes to do), but the fact remains this was not a secret. There were many opportunities for elected officials and voters (in an election year I might add) to get this fixed and keep this from becoming a last-minute crisis. Don’t cause new problems trying to get things done

You don’t control what you don’t own

What caused the law to come to life is the ‘national security’ argument; that the company who owns TikTok (ByteDance) has access to data and information and is controlled by an entity that might not have the best interest of its users at heart. Not having full control or even full awareness of the algorithm TikTok uses, what data is stored, how it’s secured, and how that data is used creates a feeling of uncertainty and skepticism at best, paranoia at worst. To think that at some point someone was not going to notice and not try to address it is completely “delulu”. If companies/properties cannot speak to how things such as sensitive data, problems, and issues are handled or resolved, then someone is going to step in a propose a solution, and we won’t like it.

This is only a temporary solution. If the right one isn’t found, we could see a repeat

The other wrinkle in the Executive Order being made by the incoming President is the fact that it might not be a long-term solution. How the law was written, TikTok must be in a good-faith plan to resell or divest control/influence from China in place of it being banned. There are U.S senators in DC that are saying even now “Apple/Microsoft/Oracle” must follow the law. TikTok and the various companies are taking the incoming administration at their word they will not be subject to the fines that law (passed by Congress). It is now a question of how much risk they are exposing themselves to. Partner and build relationships with those who create the laws/policies, to ensure they have a true understanding of what they do (or don’t do) affects your business and community.

I can only imagine what the “vibe check” will be as people return to a level of normalcy, but in hospitality industry for once, we get to sit back and watch how another industry deals with a disruption to their business and learn from what occurs. It’ll be interesting to watch and see what develops from here.

Andrew Hopson