The clock is ticking for social media company TikTok. TikTok a social media company known for its easy to consume, short-form content might be shuttering it’s doors after the US government considers to ban the platform over worries of the app being potentially harmful due to its parent company ByteDance being a Chinese company. With the imminent ban of the app, millions of people in the United States especially teenagers and young adults are in a panic as they lose a beloved platform. However with all the commotion around TikTok, you begin to wonder is it really the big deal that it has been made out to be?
Is TikTok really worth the trouble and outcry? Some people think so like North Canyon student Mia Cardona (11) stated “TikTok gave us information fast and gave us a different way to think and see the world. It also gave us a diverse community to explore and gave us a platform to find new interests some of which he didn’t know we were interested in. Additionally, D’Anthony Harvey (10) states “With TikTok I could express myself differently than I could do in real life and explore different parts of my personality on TikTok”.
However, on the other hand, some people believe TikTok should be banned as according to an article published by Boston University’s BU Today besides reiterating how the primary reason for banning the app could be a hazard to national security due to its parent company also throws another issue into the mix as the article states, “The second rationale is to protect the privacy and health of American minors. The concern is that TikTok has the potential to influence American teenagers in harmful ways. Since the youth represent a nation’s future, it appears imperative to ban what may be seen as a dangerous “backdoor” for manipulation. The internet additionally has become a public health issue, in America and globally. In fact, China’s Douyin, TikTok’s counterpart, has had millions of Chinese youth and elderly hooked up to the level of digital epidemic.”
