Fate of TikTok Not Clear

Message TikTok users saw just before its ban in the U.S.

By Tayeb Rahman
Co-Editor | The Pacific Times

Following a brief ban in the United States, the TikTok app was restored to the Apple and Google Play stores as of Feb.13.

The ban took effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, when teenagers, parents, workers, and regular app users lost their favorite cat video feeds, memes, and content creators from TikTok. At the time, those who deleted TikTok lost the app entirely.

Many students’ usage of TikTok increased in anticipation of the ban.

“My screen time for today is 9 hours and 31 minutes,” said Junior Eshal Shahid on Jan. 17. “TikTok was 7 hours.”

The ban resulted from concerns from U.S. legislators regarding privacy and data security. According to NPR, they believed that TikTok, which Chinese company ByteDance owns, could allow the People’s Republic of China to steal sensitive information from American citizens.

After less than 12 hours of TikTok being unavailable in the United States, President Donald O. Trump released an executive order on Jan. 19 delaying the ban for 75 days. However, when users who deleted the app from their devices tried downloading it again, they were told, “TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you’re in.”

After the brief hiatus, the TikTok algorithm did not appear to function the same way it did before the ban.

Message TikTok users saw when it became available again.

“My for you page isn’t what it was before, but it’s coming back slowly,” said Junior Jayesh Patil.

Before the ban, NP3 High teachers had fixed feelings. “I believe that something else will take its place. I follow my creators on Instagram already,” said English teacher Kirsten Spall. Teachers have also expressed concerns that the TikTok ban violated free speech and expression.

“What national security is upheld by limiting China from knowing what cat videos we like?” said government and economics teacher Jonathan Peacock. “Every social media company knows a lot about their users. It is not limited to just TikTok.”

“It’s the age-old question: How do you balance freedom of speech and national security? We’ve been fighting that battle forever,” added Spall.

On the other hand, students who support the ban said they believe that TikTok has infected youth’s mental well-being and attention span.

“I felt like I’d gained my life back after the ban,” junior Sydney Duong said. “But then when I got TikTok back, I returned to the same old person.”

Students who oppose the ban said it sets a precedent for increasing the government’s power.

“While I believe that TikTok’s ban would be beneficial in creating genuine and meaningful social interactions, the precedent it sets for government overreach is potentially more damaging,” said senior Jugaad Dhaliwal.

The U.S. government has called on ByteDance to divest from the company if TikTok is to remain in the U.S.

Ultimately, the fate of TikTok remains unclear, however, the Trump administration has shown its support for keeping the app in the United States for its users. As of Feb. 13, the app had been restored to the Apple and Google Play stores.

The TikTok app became available again in the Apple and Google Play stores on Feb. 13.