A bill that may lead to a potential TikTok ban passed the Senate yesterday and is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden. The law will force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to find a new owner within nine months or be removed from app stores in the U.S.
The bill was tied to another issue regarding an emergency foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
TikTok plans to file a legal challenge when the bill is signed. The legislation is a “clear violation of the First Amendment,” TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, said.
“The passage of the bill goes a long way towards safeguarding our democratic systems from foreign influence,” senate intelligence committee chair Mark Warner said.
Dean • May 20, 2024 at 8:42 PM
I fully agree with the ban of TikTok. Not only because of the national security questions regarding it; but also because of the fact that the app is simply brain rot. I see no benefits in the app.
Grant E • May 19, 2024 at 11:41 PM
I think it’s really great to get a bunch of students opinions on a topic rather than just the writers opinion. Just the first two comments on the topic from other students gave me many new points that I had not thought about when debating it in my mind. I agree that it isn’t senators trying to stop freedom of speech and that it would help americans move away from short form content.
Volod • May 19, 2024 at 11:12 PM
I don’t agree with the ban at all. I think that the reasons that the U.S. government has given for the ban, such as that it is a national security risk, are incorrect as they haven’t had any solid evidence to back it up. And either way, banning the app would reduce creativity, and would ruin the income of many creators on the app who use it for their companies or just to entertain others.
NP • May 19, 2024 at 5:54 PM
I appreciated getting to read student opinions on the situation; however, I would have liked to see some teacher opinions as well.
Katie H • May 19, 2024 at 5:24 PM
I have personally never used TikTok as I’ve seen how addictive it can become, particularly in teenagers. I won’t miss this app if it does end up being banned, but while it may pose a mental health risk I’ve yet to see any concrete data that shows it is a security risk. I don’t think the federal government should have such a strong hand in regulating digital media that has not been shown to the public to be legitimately harmful.
Joseph VanDenBerg • May 18, 2024 at 3:00 PM
I believe that TikTok should be U.S. or banned. There are severe security issues with the app. Yes, the app, on the surface, only holds data about most American teen preferences. However, under the surface, that data does show what was impactful in American society at the time: The Chinese Government or another malicious party can analyze what interests Americans and possibly use those identified means of information transmission for their purposes. I feel that a group of people who do not like us should not have this much information about us. I think also that TikTok degenerates society. We spend so much time scrolling and watching videos. This new form of social media that captures attention spans needs to go. For me, possibly banning TikTok would be the best first step.