At first, it sounded like a prank, or just more fake news. But soon enough, students learned the truth: TikTok may soon be banned.
TikTok must sell itself to another company approved by the US Government, or be banned from the appstore in the U.S. The bill gives ByteDance just nine months to find a buyer. However, TikTok, which has over 170 million users in the U.S alone, will carry a high price tag.
Lawmakers argue that TikTok can be used to spread misinformation and harvest user data from US citizens, but many believe the TikTok ban could be unconstitutional. According to the New York Times, the government may struggle to justify the ban. TikTok representatives have fought against the case for months, even advocating for users to contact their local legislators to prevent this ban.
It is likely that ByteDance and the ACLU will challenge this ruling in court under the First Amendment, but in the meantime students and teachers are left to envision a world without TikTok.
Biology teacher, Kayla Wright, has reservations about TikTok.
“I think Tik Tok Is useful, but It can also be dangerous.” She said, “National Security can be much more easily breached because of how open everything is.”
Spanish teacher Olga Carreon feels that the app can distract students.
“The TikTok ban is good because TikTok distracts children from their work,” Spanish teacher Olga Carreon said.
Many people are skeptical TikTok will actually be banned due to there being many threats about the ban of TikTok prior to this latest bill. In 2020, word spread around the internet about a possible TikTok ban, which never occurred.
Freshman Mia Fuhrman said , “I think they say that every year and it just never happens.” She said, “I don’t think it’s really a threat because so many people are on it.”
Freshman Sonam Mediratta said, “I don’t think it’s a threat,” She said. “It’s gone from musically to TikTok and it’s been there for a while and nothing has happened.”
Many students disagree that the app represents a threat to national security.
“American security is fine.” Freshman Summer Bouchereau said.
Students reminisced about some of their fondest memories using TikTok.
“You can learn things from it and it is very entertaining,” Freshman Cristina Blanco said of TikTok.
“It doesn’t test my patience as much as youtube or other platforms,” Bouchereau said.
TikTok awaits its new owner and many of the citizens in the U.S hope that they can keep TikTok around for more years to come.
Regardless of the outcome of this ban, Ms. Wright offered advice for anyone living with TikTok., “it’s very easy to get caught up in the tiktoks and it’s not always real life,” she said.
