Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sharply criticized TikTok for attributing the restoration of its U.S. service to President-elect Donald Trump, emphasizing that Trump is “not the president right now.”
In a series of Instagram stories, Ocasio-Cortez responded to a notification from TikTok that appeared after the app was reinstated for American users. The message credited Trump for advocating against allowing the platform to remain inaccessible and for promising to issue an executive order delaying its potential ban.
“First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now. He is a private citizen,” Ocasio-Cortez said, reading from the TikTok message. “He does not have presidential powers to issue executive orders. This is a deliberate choice by TikTok to name him, signaling private collaboration with Trump and his administration.”
Ocasio-Cortez also criticized TikTok for referring to Trump as “President Trump,” arguing that it reflects a broader trend of right-wing influence over social media platforms in the United States. “When TikTok thanks Trump and calls him ‘President,’ it reinforces how mass social media in this country — with very few exceptions — has been co-opted by right-wing narratives,” she explained. “Elon Musk took over Twitter, renamed it X, and openly manipulated algorithms to boost right-wing content and amplify harassment. This is part of a larger pattern.”
On Sunday, TikTok announced it was “in the process of restoring” access to American users. This came after Trump posted on Truth Social that his forthcoming executive order would extend the deadline for banning TikTok, providing more time for a deal to address national security concerns. Trump also claimed his order would protect companies from liability for keeping TikTok online.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok go dark,” Trump wrote. “On Monday, I’ll issue an executive order extending the timeline before restrictions take effect. There will be no liability for companies that helped prevent a shutdown.”
The looming TikTok ban followed a federal appeals court ruling requiring ByteDance, the app’s parent company, to sell its U.S. operations or face a prohibition. ByteDance was given until January 19 to comply unless the president authorized a 90-day extension.