Latines Lamented the TikTok Ban. Now Many Are Voluntarily Giving The App Up

From the so-called “spa water”  videos that started a conversation on the cultural appropriation of agua fresca, to the catchy Brazilian funk snippets by MC Menor JP that got the whole world dancing, to the recent photo album collections inspired by Bad Bunny’s song “DtMF” that’s encouraging many to be present and treasure moments with their loved ones, TikTok has helped Latines learn, laugh, and build community. So when the app went dark for 12 hours in the United States on January 18 following a federal ban, Latines in the diaspora, like many Americans, were concerned.

“My biggest worry is figuring out where to go from here, not only in terms of where to post content but also in what happens to the community that I’ve built,” Bryan Hernandez, a Dominican-American content creator and PR coordinator with more than 185,000 followers on the app, tells Refinery29 Somos.  

The U.S.’ war on TikTok started in 2020, when then-President Donald Trump claimed the app's owner, ByteDance, was using it to spy on Americans and suggested a ban. With concerns around an alleged national security threat, Congress passed a bill in 2024 that said ByteDance must sell its stake in the app or TikTok would be banned in the U.S. ByteDance contested the ban, arguing that it violates the free speech rights of both users and the company. But on January 17, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could legally shut down the video-sharing app in the U.S. 

Then-President Joe Biden said he would leave enforcement of the law up to the incoming Trump administration. When Trump regained the office on January 20, he signed an executive order to suspend the TikTok ban for 75 days, giving ByteDance more time to find a U.S. buyer and later unveiling that Microsoft is an interested purchaser. Trump stated he now has "a warm spot for TikTok" after joining it in 2024, amassing 15 million followers, and crediting it for helping him gain traction among younger voters. 

While temporarily reinstated in the U.S. (though still unavailable on app stores), TikTok’s life expectancy remains unpredictable. 

As one of the most-used social media apps among Latines, the loss of TikTok wouldn’t just cost Latine users an educational platform and community — it could also impact their financial income. “Before finding success as a content creator, I was a struggling mom who was trying to finish my degree but lost everything during the [Covid-19] pandemic,” Angie Roman, who has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok, says. “TikTok and its e-commerce space gave me financial stability.” 

Similarly, New Jersey-based Peruvian content creator Adriana Seijas says the work and community she found on the app has helped her in many ways. “Content creation has become a meaningful part of my life because it allows me to connect with others in an authentic way. I enjoy the creativity it brings — whether it’s through sharing beauty tips, lifestyle moments, or pieces of my story as a Latina immigrant,” she says. 

Initiatives like #CasaTikTok have also been uplifting the Latine community with IRL events, media activations, and social gatherings that have been used to foster a stronger sense of belonging not only for U.S.-based Latines but also for those around the world. “I remember posting a video asking TikTok if there were any Latines in London, and a whole new side of the Latine community was introduced to me,” Hernandez says. 

But despite the community and opportunities Latines have found on TikTok, some are reluctant to keep using it. When access to TikTok returned on January 19, its 170 million U.S. users received a notification: “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US.” For some Latines, who, despite voting for Trump in higher numbers in the 2024 Presidential Election still overwhelmingly voted against him, the message seemed like pro-Trump propaganda and that, frankly, turned them off. 

When content creator and photographer Mariah Salter saw the notice, she posted a video on TikTok that said: “Me deciding if I still wanna use this app after that nasty lil intro message I just got.” Her video has received more than 1.9 million views at the time of writing. Over on Instagram, the popular account Latina Rebels reposted the video. The platform’s founder, Nicaraguan author Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez, resonated with Salter’s message. 

“I feel confused about it all. I don’t even feel resolved about what’s next for me and social media. It feels too soon, too fresh,” Mojica Rodriguez, who credits social media and the following she has been able to cultivate online for her first book deal, tells Somos. “... I mostly have headaches and fear.”

In response to this chaotic turn of events, Puerto Rican content creator Carol Maeli made a video that questioned if the temporary loss of TikTok was a political stunt to paint Trump as a savior.

With more than 104,000 followers on TikTok, Maeli finds herself still questioning everything. “What’s really going on? Why was the app shut down for less than 15 hours, and what does that mean for its future? Will TikTok change? Will it lose its essence,” she ponders. “TikTok is a global means of communication, and shutting it down would limit our spaces for connection while further monopolizing the platforms that remain. That’s a concerning thought for both creators and consumers alike.”

For artist and actor Victoria Bernice Bermudez, the entire political discourse around banning or saving TikTok was off-putting, particularly when there are other global and domestic concerns that demand the same urgency. “With so many pressing issues affecting Americans today, focusing on TikTok seemed to detract from more urgent concerns,” she tells Somos.

Whatever happens with TikTok, the looming effects of President Trump’s election are tangible; it feels like the app will never be the same. User behavior has dramatically changed, with many content creators, Latine and non-Latine, sharing plans to switch platforms. 

And they’re not just dropping TikTok. NBC News reports that there has been a Meta exodus, with users boycotting and leaving Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The departure follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who attended Trump’s inauguration alongside many other tech giants, ending Meta’s fact-checking program, disbanding its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team, and updating its policy on hateful conduct that green-lights equating queerness to a mental illness. Since Elon Musk took over X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022, many users also abandoned that app, with its largest exodus coming after the Presidential Election in November 2024.

Sure, social media has widened representation for Latines and made it possible to access, discover, and support likeminded creators. The stories — the funny, the marvelous, and the tragic — about our Latine cultures and people must be preserved, and the diaspora and younger generations have been doing this most effectively through social media. But do we still feel comfortable doing this while we know who’s behind the scenes of this social media theatre stage? Some don’t and are deactivating their accounts for now and others for good. Still, other Latine content creators are continuing to use these platforms to fervently reflect on current political affairs, share mutual aid projects, and provide their communities with respite during unpredictable times. 

And there are others who remain conflicted, unsure what roles these platforms will play for them and, in some cases, their brands' futures. “It feels important to maintain this stuff, but I’m tired,” Mojica Rodriguez says. “I think millennials have seen too much in the realm of social media, from Myspace to now. We’re exhausted.”