The popular social media app, “TikTok” is in the process of being banned in the U.S. by the government, but should it really be banned?

What is “TikTok”?

Before discussing if TikTok should be banned, It’s important for people who don’t know what TikTok is to get into the possible ban of the application. “TikTok” is a popular social media application, most accessible on mobile devices, and is used by many ages from young children to grown adults.

According to this website, TikTok is used by 30.25% of internet users worldwide and has over 1 billion app users as of 2023. Users of the application are allowed to upload whatever content they would like, consisting of dancing videos, daily vlogging, educational videos, and showcasing items just to name a few.

Overall, the app can be considered very open and diverse to many, leaving room for creativity amongst the users.

Ban Reasoning

Despite the many positive features that the app has, the U.S. government wants to ban the application. But why is this? According to this article, the reason for the possible TikTok ban is that security is in danger when it comes to TikTok, due to the Chinese Government having theoretical involvement in collecting the user’s data.

” TikTok can collect lots of personal information from its users. In the app’s privacy policy, it states that when you create an account, upload content, or interact with the platform in any way, TikTok can and will collect the following:

• Any account and profile information (name, age, username, phone number, profile image, email, and password).
• Any user-generated content uploaded to the app (audio recording, photos, comments, and videos).
• Direct messages.
• Any information used to purchase something through the app (card numbers, names, information from third-party payment apps, billing, and shipping address). “

As well as this, you must share things with the application that cannot be avoided, such as:

• Your cookies
• Your location
• Your device metadata (Which describes how, when, and where your user-generated content was created)
• Your device information

Essentially, the U.S. government wants to ban TikTok due to safety concerns about the Chinese Government possibly taking the data of their Western users, having sensitive and classified information could theoretically be released due to this.

TikTok’s Response

However, how do the creators of TikTok feel about this sudden ban on their app? According to this article, TikTok explained,

” We appreciate that some governments have wisely chosen not to implement such bans due to a lack of evidence that there is any such need, but it’s disappointing to see that other government bodies and institutions are banning TikTok on employee devices with no deliberation or evidence. “

Furthermore going on to state that its goal is to help strengthen the privacy of its users, and bans on the app do nothing to help advance their privacy. To add to this, they would go on to state,

” We believe the concerns driving these decisions are largely fueled by misinformation about our company. We are happy to continue having constructive meetings with state policymakers to discuss our privacy and security practices. ” (Found in this article)

Basically, they are stating that security over their users is also their top priority, but it’s really unfortunate that other countries are being led by theoretical misinformation, therefore being led to ban TikTok in its entirety.

Users of TikTok

So, the U.S. government wants TikTok to be banned due to their security concerns about the possibility that the Chinese Government is taking their user’s data and can use it to release classified information that could have a high potential to cause harm. TikTok’s response to this is to state that the U.S. government is being misled with false information and that security over their users is also their top priority.  However, what do the users of the app themselves have to say about this?

This article from the NY Times asks how students who use the application feel about the possibility of a ban. Most were opposed to the ban, stating stuff such as,  “ The government has bigger problems it should be worrying about.” as well as “Many apps — not just TikTok — are collecting and selling their data. ” 

Furthermore, some of these students would go on to call the government “hypocritical” with this ban. The reason that they state this is due to how other applications like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram theoretically also take their user’s data. Due to this, they question that if they want to ban TikTok, why don’t they want to ban the other aforementioned social media platforms?

Despite these students who opposed the ban, other students actually agreed with the ban on TikTok.

Some of the students stated things in relation to security, such as ” Due to China’s authoritarian government, they could possibly collect all our personal data we have entered into TikTok. ” or ” China could also influence the way we view their country by promoting certain videos and hiding others. It even was reported that spies in China have collected different IP Addresses, and that’s a horribly scary thing. ” 

Other students stated that their mental health could be improved with the removal of TikTok, going to admit that banning TikTok will not do anything about their privacy, but due to how addictive the social media platform can be, it would help users of TikTok gain better mental health. Going on to say:

” I am exposed almost every day to the realities that young children are facing. It is extremely nerve-racking to hear children ages 5-12 spend hours a day on TikTok. “

They also went on to state how childhood is one of the most important parts of our lives due to them shaping our opinions and characteristics of who we are today, and they have the belief that TikTok can ruin this process, and the only way to stop this from happening is if they ban the app all-together.

We even interviewed one of our staff, Sarria, who uses TikTok quite often as they have built a huge following off the platform. ” I’m devastated “, she said. Following this, she would go on to state how the following she built up over time would be for nothing.

” I’m sure the real reason why the U.S. wants to ban TikTok is because of the stuff that’s being found out from the app that the government doesn’t like.” She continued. Could it be possible that the U.S. isn’t concerned about the Chinese Government taking the data of Western users?

Conclusion

The public decision on banning TikTok is pretty divided amongst one another due to there being multiple reasons for both sides of the argument.  What do you think about the possible ban on TikTok? Do you think it’s a necessary thing to do, or is it entirely unnecessary? Is the Chinese Government really taking our data, or is it something we don’t have to worry about at all? Take the poll!