An app used by over 170 million Americans was momentarily banned nationwide, on the evening of Jan. 18. After about 12 hours, the app was restored with a pop up stating “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.” Trump’s executive order delays the ban of the social media app for 75 days and restored access to the app in the United States.
The ban was passed in large part because many U.S. officials had voiced concerns about TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and the security of U.S. citizens’ information.
In April last year, a law signed by President Joe Biden forced ByteDance to sell the app to a U.S. company by Jan, 19 or it would be banned. Nine days before, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the case to determine whether banning the app was a breach of First Amendment rights or if that was overruled by the potential security issues, ultimately allowing the app to be banned.
Users of the app have argued for a stop to the ban on the platform, saying it’s censorship and blocking creative expression. Among these users is sophomore Finley McBride, who has a following of 5,000 and has even gone viral with over 1.8 million likes.
“I like that you can really make anything and share it with whoever you want, and there’s no limits to what you can do,” McBride said.
Though the app provides the possibility of making money or becoming famous on the internet, most enjoy creating content to share with friends. Without the app, McBride believes there could be a decline in connection between students.
“I think we’ll definitely be communicating a lot less,” McBride said. “TikTok is where our common jokes come from and without that we’re going to be a lot less connected I feel.”
Like many other TikTok users, McBride believes the ban limits people’s expression and won’t provide any positive results.
“I think it’s really tragic because I spend all my time on TikTok, and I guess I’ll have a better screen time, but I think it’s blocking a lot of people from their jobs, and also their creative expression,” McBride said.
Popular users can make a full-time income based solely on their TikTok videos. Many Americans woke up on Jan. 18 to a pop-up message on the app saying in part, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
Yearbook and photography teacher, J. Frank Webster, thinks the app has damaged students and their health and productivity.
“TikTok is weaponized to create an entire generation of distracted American young people, and it’s been very successfully deployed,” Webster said.
Webster does not believe, however, it is the videos people watch or create that’s the issue.
“It’s not the content that people watch on Tiktok that’s damaging,” Webster said. “It’s the amount of time that they spend watching it that means that their brains aren’t doing something creative. It used to be that when people were bored, they would satisfy that boredom by creating or building, and now when people are bored they start consuming media. It is designed to be addictive.”
Webster said this new addiction that students have developed has seeped into classrooms too.
“When my students come into my classroom, they all sit down and have their phones out, and they’re not actually interacting with one another,” Webster said. “I believe that we have a generation of young people who don’t know how to have a face-to-face conversation with anybody.”
In terms of the ban, Webster doesn’t think its effects will last long, with so many other apps out there for students to spend their time on.
“I think banning TikTok won’t have a negative effect,” Webster said, “but I’m afraid the effect that we’ll see from it will be very temporary.”
Incoming President Donald Trump has signaled in recent days his likelihood to provide a 90-day extension on his first day of presidency to TikTok for them to have more time to sell ByteDance to a non-Chinese buyer. The pop-up message on TikTok after its ban mentioned Trump saying he has promised to “work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
Sophomore Marlowe Walsh used to spend time on the app whenever she had free time.
“I like that it gives me something to do when I am bored,” Walsh said. “If I want to take a break when I am doing homework or right before bed I automatically scroll on TikTok.”
Despite bringing communities together, Walsh said she has pushed away other priorities to scroll on TikTok.
“I think that it makes me less productive,” Walsh said. “During the time I could be doing homework, spending time with friends or working out, I end up scrolling on TikTok instead.”
Due to the ban on TikTok, users have begun to look for alternative apps to turn to. Popular apps such as Instagram’s reels and YouTube’s shorts have been mentioned as the new replacements for TikTok.
“I am not worried because I still have Instagram reels,” Walsh said. “ I think that they are funnier but a downside is that I cannot follow my friends because they don’t post on reels.”
Many use TikTok to make different kinds of content. From dances to “day in my life”, it has provided people with a place to express themselves.
“I have a small account with just my close friends,” Walsh said. “I will vlog my day sometimes and I like that it is a way to communicate with my friends.”
While the app will be missed, Walsh thinks that the adjustment will help improve overall intelligence in the world.
“I think that it will raise productivity and people’s IQ and SAT scores,” Walsh said.
Despite saying that he would put the app out of business, Trump has restored the functionality of the app. However, there is still a possibility of ban if it is not bought within the 90 day extension. For now, kids who on average spend two hours a day active on the app will be left in the dark.
