The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in March 2024 that indicates a nationwide ban on TikTok, a widely popular social media app used by billions of people all over the world.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has refused to sell its stake in the app. The US government is concerned that China is stealing people’s information; this concern led to a bill that requires TikTok to be sold to an American buyer. Though the House of Representatives approved the bill 352-65, the bill has not yet been passed by the Senate, and there is no indication that they will be moving forward with it anytime soon. Adding stakes, President Biden said recently in an interview that he would sign the bill if it is passed by the Senate.
Since the rumor of the TikTok ban began circulating, its users have become anxious with the possibility of losing the unique app. While TikTok is popular all over the world, most of its active users are citizens of the U.S., making up 143.4 million monthly users. Statistics show that 37.36 percent of mobile phone users in America open TikTok
at least once a month.
Tualatin High School senior CJ Goodwin shared his perspective on the bill.
“The reason the government is thinking about banning it is because China can get into your phone and steal your information,” he said.
While no evidence has surfaced publicly that the Chinese government is spying on people through TikTok, it remains a concern that China could potentially be harvesting data and personal information from its users by applying its national security law to access it.
The big question that looms over America’s TikTok users is: will it actually be banned? While it is feared that China has access to its users’ private information, does this pose a real threat to its users in the United States? There were rumors of a TikTok shutdown for the same reasons in 2020 when Trump was president, but that never actually transpired.
Despite many people being upset about the supposed TikTok ban, the ban would likely have positive effects for its younger users. 25 percent of the United States’ TikTok users are between 10-19 years old. The average user under the age of 18 spends over one hour and 45 minutes on TikTok every day.
“It would definitely be good for younger generations to get off their phones,” Goodwin added.
TikTok is a unique app that allows its users to bring their imagination to life, sharing their humor and creativity with the world in video form. This social media app gives anyone the opportunity to go viral and build a platform of loyal followers with similar interests.
