On Sunday, January 19, the social media app Tik Tok was shut down for a matter of hours before quickly coming back online the following day. Worries about a ban on Tik Tok have been spiraling for years before now, but a real ban, however short lived, was just made concrete.
The bill on the Tik Tok ban was signed by President Biden in April. This case went to the Supreme Court and the case made in defense of Tik Tok claimed that moving forward with this ban would violate the first amendment right to freedom of speech.
However, NBC News says, “the court said the reasons for enacting the law are “decidedly content agnostic,” meaning they have nothing to do with restricting certain speech.”
Instead, the Supreme Court is banning Tik Tok in the U.S. because of concerns about the app selling data from its users to foreign entities based in China.
Now, President Trump has brought the app back online following his inauguration on January 20, and the app is still operating and accessible to its users for the time being.
How do Tik Tok users feel about the ban?
Tik Tok users expectedly have complaints about the banning of the app. Many agree that this ban is a restriction on personal freedoms and believe the intent of the ban to be restriction of ideas. Similar to the case made in the Supreme Court, some users view the ban as a violation of freedom of speech and freedom of information.
In addition, the ban has the potential to take away many benefits to its users. Not only has Tik Tok built a strong community of creators and viewers, it is a lucrative platform for many. From content creators with a large following to those who run small businesses through the app, shutting down Tik Tok will not be beneficial for those who benefit monetarily from the platform.
Users believe “that a ban would violate the first amendment; that TikTok is fun and helpful for users and lucrative for creators; and that the government has bigger problems it should be worrying about.”, says the New York Times.
On the other hand, some users believe a Tik Tok ban may potentially have some benefits on mental health.
Users are often stuck scrolling mindlessly on Tik Tok for an unintendedly lengthy period of time, often for hours at a time. The app is considered by many to be a distraction from people’s real lives and an activity detrimental to both time management and mental health, as users have adapted to the short video format.
“Psychologists say as smartphones and social media grew around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teens.”, according to CNN.
In response to these concerns, however, Tik Tok does offer parental controls for parents to control their child’s consumption of videos, as well as censorship of mature content.
What is next for Tik Tok?
As the fate of Tik Tok remains up in the air, most creators and users are preparing to take the community elsewhere and begin using another platform. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts seem to be the popular U.S. based options, while others are beginning to download a Chinese app called Red Note.
Similar to the obstacles regarding Tik Tok, NBC News claims, “The app [Red Note], however, is owned by Shanghai-based Xingyin Information Technology, and government insiders and experts fear it poses a bigger national security and privacy threat than TikTok.”