Americans are constantly being teased each year that the social media app TikTok is going to be removed from phones, but is that really true? Being one of the largest social media platforms, TikTok has over 1 billion users across the globe with over 150 million users in the United States alone. It is an app where you can share and create short, entertaining videos of all kinds of genres, read stories, watch or go live, and even shop and sell. However, concerns rise with American users whenever the app is said to be banned.
Why does the Government want to ban TikTok?
The United States government started to become suspicious of TikTok ever since the year 2020. This is because they are owned by a Chinese company called Bytedance which raises concerns with the US Justice Department. They believe that it is a threat to the American National Security claiming the Chinese company is stealing sensitive user data from over 150 million Americans. Having ties with Beijing, US Officials worry that the Chinese Communist Party is influencing the way Americans see the world and stealing American user data. This led President Biden to sign a bill to give TikTok nine months to sell to an American company, otherwise it will be banned.
Is our data at risk when using TikTok?
TikTok and Bytedance have claimed that they have never been associated with the Chinese government, yet of course TikTok collects data but it is not to harm the American citizens. The user data collected is to further enhance function, experience, and to operate properly. More information on this is in their terms of service which must be read and accepted in order to use the app. As of now, TikTok has not yet sold and it does not look like it will anytime in the near future.
What is President Elect Trump going to do?
Back in 2020, President Elect Trump was opposed to TikTok because of possible propaganda coming from Beijing spreading to American users, and concerns with national security. His bias also stems from his anger with China because of the Coronavirus. He has now reconsidered as he says that this ban will be against the First Amendment suppressing people’s freedom of speech. President Elect Trump will take office the day after the supposed ban (January 19, 2025), and this has brought Mr. Trump to ask the Supreme Court to delay the ban, so that he can find a solution once he is in office.
How will this ban affect Americans?
As said before, this ban will be a violation of the First Amendment to people’s freedom of speech. Not only does it suppress the First Amendment, but it also hurts small businesses that rely on TikTok to grow their businesses by advertising, and making short videos. Since many teens and millennials use TikTok, it gives smaller businesses more customers and success. If this ban were to take place, these businesses would lose customers and money. Certainly they can always advertise on Youtube, Twitter, or other social media platforms but at the same time, these videos won’t reach as many people.
What will happen to TikTok?
As of now, the TikTok ban is said to be in effect by January 19th, 2025. President Elect Trump is coming up with a solution to this problem, but once the ban is in place the app will be removed from application stores across the country. Although, if TikTok is currently on one’s device, it won’t go away unless deleted by the user. Users won’t be able to update the app which will eventually make it unusable unless updating it through an APK. As of now, the fate of TikTok is to be decided.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53476117
https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-timeline-ban-biden-india-d3219a32de913f8083612e71ecf1f428
https://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-use-tiktok
https://apnews.com/article/small-business-tiktok-ban-bytedance-f5fd7ababa3d7c1155e4f15b21e2db5b
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/28/us/politics/trump-tik-tok-ban.html
