
Every person under the age of 35 has had one common fear this year, the nation-wide ban of the foreign owned social media app TikTok. TikTok, formally known as Music.ly, first debuted in 2014 as a lip-syncing music app. In 2017 Bytedance bought the app and rebranded it into the now famously known TikTok. Since then, TikTok has blossomed into a world-wide known phenomenon, with almost 1.6 billion active users and outliving and performing all its competitors.
Hundreds of thousands of communities have found comfort and solace in the safe and free space TikTok fostered, and most users would thank TikTok for opening their view on the world. TikTok became a source for the younger generation to become informed and educated on current news, opinions, advice, and so much more, this being especially evident with events like the 2020 and 2024 election, the Covid-19 pandemic, wildfires, natural disasters, and the BLM movement.
Despite all of this, during April of 2024 congress voted “yes” to the nation-wide ban of TikTok, with Biden signing legislative for the app to be banned from being downloaded or updated on any platform, forcing the app (which updates biweekly) to become completely unusable. The dreaded date of the ban was supposed to happen on January 19th, and if this legislative is upheld, millions of users will lose their jobs, their number one platform for news, and most importantly a place with freedom to discuss what is happening in the world around them.
With so many restrictions surrounding social media apps, TikTok represents the first place to advocate politics, civil rights, foreign affairs, and so much more. This ban directly violates the right to freedom and speech and would silence hundreds of activists who use TikTok as a place to educate. As this case continues, the future of TikTok seems increasingly grim, and the future of America turns more and more dystopian.