The potential banning of TikTok sparked a debate about freedom and political control. Supporters believe banning the app limits free speech, while others are concerned about national security.
On Jan. 18, TikTok was banned for 12 hours. Sophomore Henry Dong suspects that it was a publicity stunt.
“I think overall, it was an attempt to win over the votes of young voters and make his office [Trump] seem more competent,” Dong said.
Concerns over data collection have grown with the rise of artificial intelligence and surveillance. According to CyberNews, social media collects 86% of personal information.
“Instead of banning TikTok, the government should focus on banning collection of data,” Dong said. “After deleting Snapchat, Google scarily predicted websites that I commonly go to.”
Dong suggests that current American TikTok users find alternate social media platforms.
“I’d like to promote platforms like Mastodon and Lemmy, which have provided Americans with decentralized social media that are less harmful and [have] less data collection,” Dong said.
Across the globe, 1.925 billion people use TikTok to share opinions, express creativity, and connect with others over a wide range of content. Career and Technical Education department head Dr. Lauren Compton, thinks that restriction of information is constitutionally wrong.
“Controlling content and what consumers are absorbing goes against what our country was founded on-having the ability to showcase yourself and put yourself out there,” Compton said.
Compton owns a small business called Two Little Bees, which makes wooden doll characters. Her only form of marketing is social media. Social media accounts for 86% of Compton’s site traffic.
“Through social media, people who have purchased from me can then share my account,” Compton said. “I have seen how social media can propel small businesses.”
Perplexity AI submitted a proposal to Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, last week for TikTok’s US operation. This new company would retain a piece of TikTok, however, the US Government would take 50% of the company when the company goes public, raising concerns about how this solves the initial issue. AP Economics teacher Dr. Daniel Glossenger believes that giving ownership to the United States government would not stop the harm to TikTok.
“It raises an equal concern that the United States government would take an ownership interest in a private entity such as Tiktok. It’s not from an economic standpoint. It’s not a public good that the government needs to provide,” Glossenger said. “Given the current political climate that we live in, I suspect that government ownership is less than ideal.”
