As TikTok disappeared from phones throughout the United States on Jan. 18, students at California State University, East Bay were worried that this was the beginning of a new form of social media censorship.

When TikTok challenged the ban in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, their argument that the ban violated First Amendment rights was denied. Eventually, the case went to the Supreme Court, which made the same ruling.

A congressional committee sent subpoenas to eight internet giants demanding to know whether foreign governments are curbing what can be seen online in the US.