Tiktok, the worlds #1 most downloaded app has been sentenced to be banned on January 19th.
Owners of Tiktok, ByteDance are being pressed by the Supreme Court for concerns of privacy and the influence of the Chinese government. CEO Shou Zi Chew, testifies against these said arguments in hopes to either stop the ban or find a solution.
Senator Ed Markey produces a bill to extend the deadline of tiktok for about 270 days. The option given to tiktok officials was to either sell the company over to an American company or ban it completely.
The opposing argument of this ban states that what the american government is trying to do is take away freedom of speech since they are taking away the app where almost everyone can have a space to speak their mind. As for the consumers of tiktok, they are angry with the decision of the supreme court. Small businesses included, most of the owners are scared for their businesses because of Tiktok’s big impact on their companies. All of these small businesses used Tiktok to promote, sell, and or learn from others. Others on the app are scared as well because Tiktok was their mainstream of income. These said influencers build their lives around the people that watch their content therefore the life they created for themselves on Tiktok will be taken down.
President elect Donald Trump met with the CEO confirming his support with the app. He stated in an interview with reporters from CNBC, “We’ll take a look at Tiktok”. Trump takes back his claims of wanting to ban the app while the government is facing backlash because of the app shutdown on January 19th.
Students from Manchester High School are angry with this decision as the days get closer to the ban of their favorite app. Student Dakota Clarke states, “I am mad that they are taking my favorite app away.” She continues to say, “I don’t like the sudden decision. It’s almost like we have no say in this decision when in reality the ones who are being affected are us.” Her concerns for her account, her community, and her online friends are just some of the reasons why the decision of the supreme court was not able to have full support.
As the days lead up to the ban, people are now looking for new apps to relocate. Lemon8, Rednote, and or instagram are just a few of the apps where people are making new accounts and creating new communities that will replace the beloved Tiktok that everyone loves.
