On the 19th of January this year, TikTok will be banned unless the Supreme Court acts to repel the ban. Tiktok is an app used primarily by teenagers to create, share, and watch short videos, -created by Zhang Yiming in September 20, 2016-, will not see any American users after January 19.
Will TikTok be banned permanently?
Tiktok will not be banned immediately but rather removed from the app store so people wanting to download it will not be able to anymore. Over time the app will become unusable due to the lack of updates and shut down for people living in the United States of America.
Why is TikTok being banned and what does this mean for other apps?
The TikTok ban bill has been proposed for years ever since 2019, it has been due to a multitude of reasons such as concerns over it being a national security risk for people in America as fear spread throughout the States that it is being used to track the people that have the apps data. Trump’s first and second term as well as Biden’s term have all wanted to ban TikTok as a result of this controversy. TikTok for years has been used as a way to spread information on topics to the younger generations and now has a concern of safety by the perceived threat of foreign government influence.
Other apps such as Lemon8 are at risk of being banned as well since the ban that targets TikTok applies to apps that are owned or controlled by the company mentioned previously or any of its subdivisions.
Is there any way that the ban will not pass?
There is a small chance that the ban will not be passed on after January 19th but that is only if ByteDance -the company that owns TikTok- divests and sells the app to an American company which they have not been willing to do.
On the 13th, Senator Markey announced in congress the consequences of the TikTok ban on the first amendment rights of millions of Americans, and proposed legislation to extend the ban to 270 days where ByteDance has the choice to sell the old app. But the bill hasn’t been signed as of now.
Interview
Saugus scroll has the pleasure of interviewing Anthony Lalev, Alexandra Jimenez, and Aiden Atkins for this topic, students in 11th grade.
Do you use TikTok a lot and do you feel like a lot of young people use it?
-Yes, a lot of young people and adults use that app in their free time.
-Yes, I have a 24 hour screen time on tiktok a week.
-Yes, a lot of people use it.
What do you personally think about the TikTok ban?
-I think it is immature and it is useless to watch the senators question the owner of TikTok with irrelevant questions.
-I think that it is not a good idea to ban it as a lot of young people use it for politics and can use it to spread information about things going on in the world.
-I think that is bad and is a threat to free speech and public discourse.
What app will you use as an alternative instead of TikTok?
-Instagram reels and youtube shorts.
-I will use instagram reels as an alternative.
-Google giggles.
UPDATE
As of January 20 the TikTok ban has been unlifted after being banned for less than a day. Since now the app is working with the government to extend its ban.
