The regrettable day has finally arrived to the younger generations of the United States: the national government-sanctioned TikTok ban has been enacted on January 19th, 2025. The American Congress passed a law on January 10th banning the international video-sharing social media app on U.S. soil due to apprehension about its owners, Chinese company ByteDance, having ties to the Chinese Communist Party and illegally sharing users’ data. The FBI also feared about national security concerns, claiming that the company could use their software to spy on the public to gather intelligence against the American people. Although it is not a new phenomena that websites and applications have implemented technology into their operations to collect personal data and information about its users, lawmakers particularly targeted TikTok due to its ownership origin in Beijing. The Biden Administration has ultimately decided to let the incoming 2025 Trump administration handle the decisions regarding TikTok’s future. Therefore, preemptively, the ByteDance corporation decided to remove American access to the platform on January 19th. A buzz from all college campuses can be heard as the student body have been discussing the current news, their personal repercussions, and the scary implications for other social media networks. I ventured to ask college women their opinions on the ban and their insights on national intervention in private spaces.
This ban prompts many thoughtful questions such as, what will content creators do for their source of income now that their main channel has been withdrawn? Many influencers and regular pastime viewers of the app have been flocking to platforms of similar structure such as YouTube or Instagram, and even a similar Mandarin dupe, RedNote. Why was the original message alerting TikTokers of its inaccessibility suddenly changed to mention President Trump’s involvement? Multiple communities suspect this rhetoric switch AND the entire ban debacle to be a political stunt to further boost Trump’s ratings survey, as he takes office one day after the online crisis and had originally attempted to ban it himself in 2020. Why are some Americans still able to access the beloved app? TikTok and Trump claim to be restoring service to the platform as he plans to delay the prohibition period from taking effect. And the most mind-puzzling question that younger generation Americans are pondering is: “What does this restrictive policy mean for the future of government relations in individual use of social media?”
those who are mourning
Chaeli: The end of a cultural renaissance.
those whose life will go on
Allison: I never downloaded it to begin with, so I’ve been the always been the see it two weeks later on reels kind of girl. I guess that won’t be much a problem anymore.
Brooke: Instagram warrior since day 1! Long have the times gone where I was deemed an “untrendy oldhead” for refusing to download TikTok. I did not want to partake in the toxic body standards promoted on the platform and waste my free time unproductively doomscrolling. It’s been 5 years since I last experienced this sweetly spiteful feeling of watching the world burn trying to adjust their lifestyles to a reality I had already been living (last occurring in 2020 when regular high schoolers lamented about adapting to online school whereas I was homeschooled already). However, despite my cynicism, this decision does raise concerns about government censorship on free speech and control over private sectors.
Ivy: I’m kind of grateful for the ban because it will give me time do more instead of waste it on socials. But I still think it’s crazy that they actually banned TikTok, I didn’t think it would really happen!
those who worry/raise concerns
Natalea: I personally think a TikTok ban is silly. I know it’s addictive and can be very harmful, but it also provides income for thousands of people and helps small businesses tremendously.
Sophia: I’ve never downloaded TikTok and strictly watch IG reels, so I’m not too fazed about the ban. However, I feel like there’s way more important things that the government can do to help people though, so I think the ban is dumb.
Madison: I am very against the TikTok ban, but not because I’m sad to lose my scrolling time. Banning TikTok is the government’s way of silencing our voices and infringing on our freedom of speech, while they blame it on a security issue. It scares me because I don’t know where it will end. Books, social media, what’s next?