By: Kyle Chmielowski
The popular social media app could be banned in the United States on Jan. 19 if the Chinese-owned Byte Dance does not sell the company. The app would be taken off of play stores and eventually would become inoperable.
According to Best Colleges, 82% of college students use the popular social media app. What do students at Wright College think of potentially not being able to access a platform that serves a variety of purposes for young people?
Student Diego Merino Vazquez states that it doesn’t make sense why people want to ban TikTok just for being a Chinese-owned company. “They should just let it be because a lot of people use it for the news as well, or they can use it to learn languages or communicate with friends. So it doesn’t make sense to me that they would ban it.”
While student Basil Snodgrass says it is “extreme” to ban TikTok and regulation might be more favorable, she also mentions that there are other social media platforms and “life will go on.”
Anthropology major Leah Hahm views the TikTok ban as censorship rather than protecting people’s data. “It read to me as less about public safety and data stealing. If it was about the privacy stuff you would be doing stuff with Facebook or Twitter, all of these different American companies are doing the exact same thing, perhaps even to a larger degree.”
Sophomore Kenneth Novak believes there is a political intent behind the TikTok ban. “This is an attempt by Republicans to suppress the only major social media platform besides YouTube that is not owned by a major American billionaire falling under the influence of the Republican Party. I agree there is a lot of misinformation and some of the data collection TikTok does is concerning, however, I don’t think any of that is uniquely bad, and I would not support a ban on the grounds of free speech.”
Whether you agree or disagree, a ban means students might have to experience a life without TikTok. What would life be like for you?
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