TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States, is currently at risk of being banned. Due to the Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, TikTok was temporarily suspended after the mother company, ByteDance, refused to sell the company.
The Chinese-created platform has been under fire for being suspected of accessing personal information such as face ID and fingerprints. As a result, on January 18, TikTok was banned for approximately twelve hours. Users around the U.S. began speaking out as their most commonly used app was unavailable.
“I think there’s plenty of ways to get our information,” senior Salem Brown said. “And banning it is pretty dumb.”
TikTok wasn’t only a way for people to watch funny videos or learn something new. It was also a way for people to make money and connect with communities. Influencing became increasingly popular as TikTok and other social media apps gained popularity.
“It’s an outlet for people to say what they want,” junior Geo Dilworth said. “Also, it’s a way for people to make money.”
As a result of the number of people who became influencers, a new wave of people will be trying to find jobs resulting from their only source of income shutting down. This wave of people might cause some commotion in the economy of the U.S.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Brown said. “I don’t think about it economically. I just scroll.”
As a result of one of their most commonly used app getting banned, people in the U.S. and Powell High School are considering switching to a Chinese social media app called “Rednote.” This led the app to become the second most downloaded app in the app store two days after the TikTok suspension.
“I use TikTok pretty often,” junior Caden Nelson said. “Probably more than I should but I’d consider getting [Rednote].”
Although TikTok is getting shut down due to the concern that the Chinese government is gathering our data, students don’t seem bothered by this fact and continue to use TikTok and the new app Rednote.
“I mainly downloaded [Rednote] to see if it was like TikTok,” Dilworth said. “And honestly, I found it was like a combination of Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok.”
Although these major social media apps seem to be collecting sensitive information, students seem unconcerned about their personal data being collected and stored by foreign countries.
“I don’t personally have a problem with it being a Chinese app,” Nelson said. “I’m not gonna not download an app because it is Chinese.”
Many students spend their free time either scrolling through TikTok or creating TikToks of their own for entertainment. It is clear that the students feel very strongly about the ban and don’t agree with it.
“I didn’t like it [the ban],” junior Nathan Preator said. “It is probably good for me though.”
