The fact that Tiktok voluntarily shut down its US service a few hours before an enacted law says a lot, under the circumstances (1) it doesn't have to do so proactively; (2) its CEO is one of the five tech boys invited in Trump's inauguration; (3) Tiktok popup specifically calls out its pending plot with incoming Trump administration. I bet there was already a deal between the "concerned parties" that Tiktok will be back to the US under the Trump administration, and by so doing, Tiktok will be regarded as a pro-GOP social media along with twitter, all the while Chinese government is silent in the background. Chinese government is also uncharacteristically sophisticated in handling the XiaoHongShu situation.
In the coming days and weeks, my guess is that:
(1) Tiktok will resume its service in the US, while "concerned parties" start negotiating a long term solution under the bargaining table.
(2) Tiktok gen Zs will start tilting toward Trump admin which is good for its mid-term election in the near term.
(3) DNC will lose more young voters in the next four years.
(4) Trump 2.0 will relatively be more "friendly" toward China given the sign that Hang Zheng is attending the inauguration and Trump called Xi the day before.
(5) Trump 2.0 will likely be a de facto G2 show on the international stage.
