Comment on The Margin: As Hurricane Idalia nears Florida, people are also tracking the ‘Waffle House Index’

TikTok disappeared for a portion of the weekend, following a Supreme Court decision that upheld a 2024 federal law requiring the app to cease operations in the US unless it was sold by its Chinese owner, ByteDance. TikTok is gradually resuming service in the US, but it has an unclear road ahead. TikTok started greeting US users late Saturday night with a notice stating that "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," noting that "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US." The message changed after it was first deployed, adding a note that "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.

With just hours left in office, President Joe Biden has issued a preemptive pardon for Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert. For nearly four decades, Fauci directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He advised seven presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan and, among his many accomplishments, played a crucial role in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Elon Musk has objected to a lack of reciprocity in the US-China tech relationship, a rare criticism from the billionaire on issues sensitive to Beijing after US president-elect Donald Trump prepared to offer a reprieve to TikTok on a ban in the US. Musk, who has long sought to maintain close ties with Communist party officials in China, a core market and production centre for his electric-car company Tesla, has for years been careful in his statements about Beijing. But he said on Sunday that “something needs to change” after Trump said he would “most likely” extend a deadline for Chinese tech group ByteDance to divest from TikTok, which faced a ban under a US law that briefly forced it offline.

Vibration plates are all the rage on social media, but do they do anything for your health?

Marvel Snap, the online card game featuring the legendary roster of superheroes, was a victim of the TikTok ban. While TikTok has come back online, the digital card game remains offline in the US. While the game is developed by a US-based studio, Second Dinner, it is published by Nuverse, which is owned by Bytedance – TikTok’s parent company. With this link, the US government shuttered the game.

After more than 13 hours of the app going dark, TikTok says its in the process of restoring its services. The platform said in an X post on Sunday (Jan. 19) that it had been told service providers would “face no penalties.” STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service.