Gabi Scofield, Reporter
@GScofieldCourant
Recently, The House of Representatives passed a bill threatening the ban of TikTok. The bill states that ByteDance has six months to sell TikTok to one of the few companies that can afford it, otherwise TikTok is banned in the United States . The concern is the idea of China having access to Americans’ information. However, many citizens argue that TikTok is how they make a living and brings positive benefits to social media. TikTok has also been a very big part of many students’ lives whether they create content or just scroll.
TikTok has an array of positive and negative effects on its users. “It’s something that entertains me when I don’t have anything else to do, and it’s a way for me to connect with my friends while we’re not physically near each other. However, the amount of time I spend on it can get to an extreme point.” freshman Aisha Madsbjerg said.
The platform can also hinder students’ performance in extracurricular activities and school. “Even though I want to do better and study, I keep wanting to scroll more,” sophomore Lizzie Gearhart said.
On the other hand, some students use TikTok as a form of education. “TikTok has allowed me to stay informed about the world and learn about a lot of different things,” junior Saivinish Akavaramu said.
While banning TikTok may get rid of distractions and mindless scrolling, banning the platform might not diminish the issue entirely. “If tik tok was banned, I think I would just move to the next best app because I feel like it won’t change much because there’s not many other options.” Lizzie said.
Due to TikTok’s popularity, many other social media platforms have followed in its footsteps which would continue to give students the satisfaction of growing. “While it might make it harder to scroll, I’m sure I would replace it with something like Instagram Reels,” Saivinish said.
Students recognize the negative effects of TikTok, but that doesn’t mean that they want the app banned. “I don’t think TikTok should be banned because it’s honestly harmless. I also don’t want it to be banned because even though other apps curate things for your liking, they’re still not as good as TikTok.” Lizzie said.
Some students, knowing the details of the situation, still don’t know whether it would be beneficial to ban TikTok. “I’m not sure if TikTok should be banned, but I do acknowledge its potential negative effects, particularly on productivity and mental health.” Saivinish said.
Although the TikTok ban will most definitely make a big impact on many people’s lives, some students question whether or not they should be worrying about TikTok as much as they are. “We have much more pressing issues going on and the government doesn’t need don’t need to be spending all of their time and resources towards something as insignificant as TikTok,” Aisha said.
With all of the talk surrounding the ban the current question is if it will even happen at all. “ByteDance does not have any plans to sell TikTok,” said ByteDance in a post on Toutiao, a Chinese social media service.
However, that does not mean ByteDance is giving up, as they plan to fight the bill in court. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in another post on Toutiao.
