Now more than ever, we need a TikTok ban, almost as much as we feel we need TikTok. As a TikTok junkie, a ban would save my life from mundanity and set me free from scrolling.
It feels like the threat of a TikTok ban is empty as it has been a never-ending battle. The general public watches this tennis-like back and forth, between the government and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
But recently, TikTok users finally felt the weight of its impending doom when the app went dark due to the ban on Jan. 19. Despite its current 75-day extension, in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order, users are finally forced to face the possibility of TikTok becoming permanently unavailable to them.
I’ve used TikTok everyday, for several years, discovering so many interests I didn’t know I would enjoy. But, maybe a TikTok ban would be a good thing.
TikTok addiction has become a serious issue among young people. Its addictive algorithm software lures users down rabbit holes, creating a dependency on the app for the dopamine it provides. This unfortunate habit has serious impacts such as higher rates of depression, anxiety, all in correlation with TikTok overuse, according to The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
TikTok’s algorithm is not only guilty of causing a reliance among users, it is also known to be invasive. Through your apps activity and your location, TikTok pieces together the interworking details of your life and your personal thoughts, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
I want users to realize how disturbing this algorithm is and use the warning of the TikTok ban to move away from social media.
However, when intimidated by the ban, many TikTok users downloaded other social media, like Instagram Reels or RedNote, to get their fix. Instead of thinking about how to fill the void of TikTok with another social media app, I hope that users could use the threat of a ban to realize their reliance on Tiktok and find a new way of spending their time, a way to break free from their addiction.
Although other social media apps use algorithms similar to TikTok, TikTok still has further privacy concerns specific to its interface beyond the negative consequences its algorithm brings, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, is based in China. Although hypothetical, there are serious concerns about leaking American data and weaponizing TikTok as an anti-American propaganda machine, according to The New York Times. TikTok does, to an extent, raise national security concerns, making the TikTok ban a logical decision, according to The New York Times.
Finally, giving TikTok the boot will protect users from misinformation more than anything. Almost 20 percent of videos presented in TikTok’s search results contain misinformation, according to a NewsGuard investigation in 2022.
Although TikTok’s ban feels like a violation of free speech, I believe there are many other substitute platforms that allow users to preach their opinions. These platforms also work for influencers who’s full-time job is TikTok.
Despite being an avid TikTok user, sometimes if you love something, you need to be able to let it go. TikTok has been a very important part of my life growing up but now, I think it is important to move on from the app to better things.
