On January 19th 2025, TikTok, a popular video platform with 170 million monthly active users in the United States of America was taken offline and made unavailable to download for all American users.
The ban was included in a foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and other U.S. allies.
Supporters believe that the app’s parent company, a Chinese company named ByteDance, is a national security concern. “If you don’t think the Chinese Communist Party can twist that algorithm to make it the news that they see reflective of their views, then I don’t think you appreciate the nature of the threat,” Mark Warner, Virginia Senator, said on Face The Nation.
“While many of these technologies and platforms are popular, especially with our young people, we also know these products have the potential to endanger American users and threaten our entire national security,” Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Senator, stated in a press conference.
Opposers of the ban believe that data collection laws should apply to all social media companies, not just TikTok. “Our first priority should be in protecting your ability to exist without social media companies harvesting and commodifying every single piece of data about you without you and without your consent,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said regarding the ban in a video posted on several social media platforms.
Although the bill made access to TikTok illegal, TikTok allowed American users back on the platform after briefly blocking them from accessing it. It is unclear why it was brought offline in the first place when Biden administration officials said they weren’t going to enforce the ban (according to AP News), but then brought it back online with a message to all users thanking Donald Trump (who was not the president at the time, despite the app referring to him as “President Trump”) for letting the app go back online.
Some question if the app’s brief departure and Donald Trump somehow “saving” it before becoming president was a stunt to boost approval ratings. “I think it was just to boost Trump’s look, making him seem like a good person,” Natalie Retic, Arrowhead Sophomore, said.
With 63% of high schoolers using TikTok (according to Pew Research Center), the app’s banover the weekend was a popular topic of discussion.
“I didn’t believe it was going to happen. I thought it was fake,” Lalhmangaih Sangi, Arrowhead Sophomore, said. “I think Instagram Reels is better than TikTok.”
“[The ban] should have actually lasted,” Luci Walker, Arrowhead Sophomore, said.
