Instagram and X promote new video tools amid TikTok’s uncertain future

Instagram is promoting a new video editing app and X is rolling out a new video feature. Both announcements come as TikTok continues to face an uncertain future. 

Meta said its new app called Edits launches next month. It is a “full suite of creative tools” that will enable users to edit clips for Instagram and save drafts.

Instagram announced the new software Sunday, Jan. 19, just hours after TikTok briefly shut off its U.S. service when a new national security law went into effect.

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The law also impacted another ByteDance-owned app, CapCut, which is popular for editing videos. 

According to Bloomberg, Instagram ran ads in Apple’s App Store after TikTok was pulled down –– people who searched for “TikTok” saw a promotion for Instagram instead.

Instagram, of course, is one of the main apps to reap the benefits of a TikTok ban as it already has a similar short-form video feature called Reels.

Is there any truth to rumors about Meta buying TikTok?

Speculation has been swirling on social media that Meta is buying TikTok, following rumors that Facebook created a new TikTok account and that TikTok CEO Shou Chew removed the word “CEO” from his TikTok bio.

However, both were proven to be untrue.

Facebook has had a TikTok account since at least 2022, according to digital internet archive Wayback Machine.

And, archive photos of Chew’s profile from 2022, 2023 and 2024 do not show the CEO title in his bio, suggesting it was never there in the first place. 

What about X?

Meanwhile, X –– which is owned by Elon Musk –– also announced Sunday that it’s adding a tab in the app’s bottom bar where users can quickly access video content on the platform. The company called it an “immersive new home for videos.”

As TikTok resumed operations due to President Donald Trump stopping enforcement of the ban, Musk posted to X.

I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech.

That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but 𝕏 is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced.

Something needs to change. https://t.co/YVu2hkZEVZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2025

“I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech,” Musk said. “That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.”

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What happens next?

Tiktok’s long-term future is still up in the air as the law requires ByteDance to sell its U.S. business. 

Trump has said he is aiming to revive TikTok but wants 50% U.S. ownership.