I Have A Lot To Say About This TikTok Ban

TikTok is most likely getting banned on January 19, 2025. I have so much to say on this topic and this is the place where I come to rant.

TikTok has become a part of so many people’s lives. A majority of the population are just passive consumers but there is a large portion of individuals that make a living on this app. They share their lives and their small businesses. Many people’s lives have changed because of the platform that they were able to build on TikTok.

Creators can’t simply just take what they’ve built to a new platform. Many creators have spent years posting content and building a following. They can’t just repost that content somewhere else and hope for the best. I know the content I’ve made on TikTok for the most part can’t be reposted somewhere else. I mean it can, but the context doesn’t work. Can you imagine seeing Instagram Reels flooded with content from months ago that people repost to hopefully rebuild their platform? I know I don’t want to post videos from last football season in the middle of January. It would be a little weird. So, people would have to start from scratch. Which for some is okay but for small businesses, it might not be feasible. They need the engagement now, to keep their business alive.

The big issue I think is tech companies in the US don’t like that TikTok has created this algorithm that works so well. They want to force the sale of TikTok to an American company so they can get their hands on the tech and use it to improve their platforms and services. If this issue was the other way around, an American owner wouldn’t even dream of selling their tech to a foreign nation. If Meta was facing a ban in another country, I think they would also choose to just let the app get banned before selling their product.

On a larger scale, this could set a dangerous precedent. It doesn’t matter if you like TikTok or not, this is the government using their power to silence opinions that they don’t like. Plain and simple. Yes, TikTok admits to selling information to third parties, but so does every other platform and organization that you give your information to. The difference is that TikTok is often filled with opinions that criticize the government and politicians.

There are bigger issues facing Americans today than what apps are stealing their data. I’m sure everyone gets an email or a letter a few times a year that says their data has been breached. It seems that without fail companies like AT&T and Verizon have a data breach. How are the phone companies letting people get their hands on our data any different than someone getting the data through TikTok?

Social media platforms come and go and as a member of Gen Z, I’ve seen plenty go in and out of popularity. I know that no matter what happens in a few days with TikTok, we will move on. But I think this is something we won’t easily forget. People still mention when Vine shutdown and it stopped because the owners closed it down. The government choosing to shut something down because they don't like what they see is a very different thing.