TikTok; the app we all know and love is up for grabs by the United States Government in an attempt to be banned. This is not the first time this app has been threatened to be banned. However, this time things got a bit more real as the app was actually banned, even if it was for less than 24 hours. The app made a comeback as a result of the executive order signed by President Donald Trump which extended the use of the app for 90 days. President Trump has repeatedly expressed his opinions on whether or not the app should be banned as he stated in an interview after he was elected “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok. I won the youth by 34 points and those may say that TikTok had something to do with it.”
Now, why is the app even up for the chance of being banned? Well, TikTok is currently owned by its Chinese parent company ByteDance and because of the international ownership, there have been accusations that the company is stealing information from its American users. The proposed solution is that TikTok must be bought by an American company so it complies with the law. When the app was temporarily banned, users would open the app to a message that read “A law has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok right now.” Following that message, the app included a second note saying that President Trump was working on finding a solution to getting the app up and running again in America. Less than 24 hours later, the app was back for U.S. users!
President Trump’s goal with the executive order of postponing the ban for 90 days is to give ByteDance more time to sell. However, this is not a permanent solution. President Trump came up with the idea that TikTok should be “controlled by a joint venture between its current owners and new investors, with 50% of the platform controlled by U.S. owners.” according to Forbes Magazine.
Should TikTok be banned for reasons other than the fact that it is not owned by an American company? TikTok is an app that people, specifically Gen Z users, can spend hours and hours scrolling on and Government Officials are concerned that the content users are seeing is filled with fake news. Senior, Zoya Sidiqui said, “I don’t think TikTok should be banned because it is a really popular app but I can see why the idea for the ban was brought up” when asked about her opinions on the ban.
Many people also express their concerns about how if the app were to be banned, it would be a form of limiting freedom of speech, which is illegal via the first amendment. Much like what was happening with Twitter before it was bought by Elon Musk, when the app was censoring things the Government didn’t want users to see. At the end of the day, TikTok is such a popular app and it is loved by so many people. We are still not sure what is going to happen, but it is going to be interesting nonetheless.
