A 15-second looping comedy skit; next post, a speedpaint of an artist’s recent work; next post, a trendy dance to a popular song; next post. TikTok is an app known for its short, no more than minute-long videos, where users can make nearly anything they want. But despite how many people like the app, a sizable portion of others are less than fond.
“When I used TikTok, I kept getting pretty inappropriate dances,” junior Luke Rowan said. “I went over to Instagram reels, and it’s much better.”
On March 13, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to ban TikTok. The reasoning being the app’s parent company, ByteDance, is entirely Chinese owned and stationed. Because of this, the Chinese government has the power to request presumably any data the company might have. As of right now, the American ban is awaiting further action from the Senate before it can go into effect.
“I support the ban because I don’t think China should have as much access to the American people that it offers them,” English teacher Virginia Brown said. ”We recently had an issue where they were able to encourage a large amount of people to flood state senators and political parties.”
While some people are in full favor of the ban going through, others feel it’d be best if it didn’t. Regardless of personal views regarding TikTok, a few people express concern with the government exercising the power to ban such a large platform.
“I feel that the US is concerned about things from this app that other US apps have been doing for years,” technology education and construction teacher Lt. Colonel Thomas Bourne said. “I am concerned with any censorship for adults, regardless who does it, but especially when it is a government.”
Despite what some say, not everyone believes the ban to be a political issue. Some people claim TikTok is partly being banned due to toxicity on the platform.
“There are some bad parts of it, and it’s definitely not the best for the world,” sophomore Carly McDermott said. “I think it’s both toxic, but entertaining.”
Regardless if the ban goes through, gets dropped, or goes up temporarily, the effects of it will be felt across the nation.
“I do worry that there may be some businesses that will be impacted,” English teacher Meredith Williamson said. “But there are lots of other ways to reach your clientele.”
