On January 19th, a nationwide TikTok ban was set in place. Although the ban only lasted a few hours, at the time President-elect Donald Trump, pledged that he would sign an executive order to delay the enforcement of the ban. Students still had opinions on the ban and the reasons causing it. Junior Abilene Rust, who was interviewed before the ban, had ideas of how it would affect students.
“I think students will spend less time on their phones in class so they will pay more attention to the work they were assigned,” Rust said.
Sophomore Austin Kirr was interviewed after the ban.
“I was pretty unbothered by the ban, especially since it was so short-lived,” Kirr said. “I think the ban was a big deal to those who are addicted to TikTok.”
When the app was down, users received a message on the screen saying, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” After about 16 hours, the app was back with a message saying, “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
Congress originally wanted to ban TikTok for reasons concerning national security according to CBS News.
“It’s not just a national security threat, it’s a personal security threat,” Senator Josh Hawley said.
All social media apps, carry your personal information, but TikTok was the only one getting banned.
“I think the reasoning for banning this app is valid, but I also think it is valid for all social media,” Rust said. “I don’t understand the point of just banning TikTok.”
TikTok has also been considered a source of inaccurate information.
“You can post a video about something, and you can’t comment links or cite your sources, so you can say something false and everyone will believe it,” Rust said.
Misinformation is very easily spread on the app.
“Donald Trump started the problem in the first place, just so he could bring the app back and get people on his side, but the truth is, he just wants misinformation to be spread,” Rust said.
Another argument is that the TikTok ban is a violation of First Amendment rights. TikTok became a place of work for many. Influencers created careers off of TikTok and the ban scared many of them.
“I’ve detached from the career aspect of losing this app, but emotionally, I’ve just been thinking about how many phases of life I’ve gone through on here [TikTok],” influencer Lexi Hidalgo said.
For others, TikTok is just another social media app.
“Me personally, I don’t care that much about the ban, and I am not going to be too upset if the app is gone for good,” Rust said. “I know that for other people, TikTok is important. People build careers off of TikTok, so I feel for them.”
