TikTok has been on the verge of being banned for over a year now, but this time around it’s starting to feel like cutting off this platform that millions use for entertainment, creativity and connection might actually happen, which I believe will cause more harm than good.
On Friday Jan. 10, 2025, the Supreme Court heard arguments about a law that could lead to a TikTok ban in the U.S. The bill, signed by Joe Biden in April, requires TikTok to sell itself off from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or face being banned in the U.S.
People in favor of the bill are worried that the Chinese government could use TikTok to control what content is shown and access private user data. The only way the ban will not go into effect would be if it was sold to a government approved buyer.
Many people are not so much concerned about the reason for TikTok being banned, but more so what will happen after it is.
TikTok has more than 170 million monthly American users. All of these users utilize this app for many different purposes. It started off as an app for entertainment, but quickly grew into something way more.
TikTok has provided so many opportunities for so many people and it is honestly sad that eventually these creators and small businesses who have grown their TikTok platform so will now have to move it over to Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube. These other platforms also do not provide the creator fund which is what is used to pay TikTok creators.
Not only have people used TikTok to make money, but people have also used it to save money. Recently, many creators have been utilizing TikTok shop. This is right in the app and sells any item you can think of, but for an extremely discounted price.
TikTok provides many different and sometimes educational videos, but it also has a tab in the app called “STEM”. This feature brings you to an entirely different page that is full of educational videos and can provide you with helpful information on any subject.
Not only is banning TikTok going to poorly affect the creators that use it to make a profit, but also the viewers who find the app to be very helpful for a variety of topics. The ban is also violating the First Amendment which restricts America’s freedom of expression and access to information. This makes it so people who have the ability to hear different opinions and perspectives or personally decide to express their beliefs on all sorts of different topics on the platform will be taken away.
If TikTok gets banned it will not be deleted from all U.S devices. If someone purchases a new phone they will not be able to download TikTok, but if they already have the app on their phone it will no longer be able to be updated. This means the platform will get buggy, might have security vulnerabilities and eventually, over the course of weeks or months, will become unusable.
On the other hand, for as long as TikTok has been around, it has always caused controversy. Many adults find that kids are always distracted by it or they worry it is rotting our brains so they might be happy about this ban. What some people might not understand is that TikTok has proved to serve more good than bad.
Will the world continue to spin? Yes, of course. But that does not take away from the fact that these creators that have made a whole living off of this app will have to attempt to utilize a different app like Instagram to grow the same platform.
On the other hand people do have genuine concern over the privacy and data security of this app. TikTok does collect personal information from users such as location, browsing habits, and facial recognition data. Because TikTok’s parent company is based in China, the worry is that the Chinese government could access this data to spread propaganda.
With that being said, this security issue would be solved if a U.S government owned buyer purchases it meaning the Chinese government having access would no longer be a concern. The problem with this is that the creator of TikTok is not willing to sell because a lot of people are trying to buy it, but the creator won’t sell it.
TikTok has its fair share of flaws that come with the app, but I believe that the pros outweigh the cons in this situation. TikTok has come so far from just being used for entertainment. Further, some people’s careers will be destroyed if they do not have TikTok.
Not only do people earn money from making videos or educating people, but outside small businesses or even large businesses like Netflix also have grown because they have used TikTok as a marketing platform.
Banning TikTok might seem like an easy fix, but it would take away from something that millions of people enjoy. Instead of shutting it down, we should focus on making rules that protect user data without stopping the app. TikTok has become a big part of our culture, and with the right precautions it can keep running safely.
