WOODBURY — Over the past few weeks, Americans have been preparing for the popular app TikTok to be banned. As the deadline of Jan. 19 approached, Americans said heartfelt goodbyes on the app.
Even as President Donald Trump decided to delay the ban for a few months, giving hopes it would be sold to American citizens decreasing possible security issues, the app still faces a potential ban, according to Axios.
But TikTok should not be banned.
Over the years, TikTok has made a huge impact— no matter your age. According to Seo.ai, more than 167 million Americans participate in endless scrolling. America’s most downloaded app was threatened to be banned on multiple occasions within its time.
It all started in 2020, when Trump proposed the ban of the app, since TikTok was owned by a Chinese company and it was supposedly a threat to America’s national security. Unless sold, TikTok would be banned.
Many Americans were upset with the decision. Influencers faced losing their jobs, and many others thought the government’s reasoning was stupid.
But some were pleased.
“I think TikTok should be banned because a lot of brain rot starts there,” says Nonnewaug junior Michael Sullivan, who says he prefers watching YouTube Shorts because there’s less nonsense there. “We have to start being normal as a society.”
Concerns of TikTok actually being banned calmed down for a few years as relief flooded many Americans as a result of keeping the app.
That was until May 7, 2024, when TikTok and ByteDance sued the United States for violating the First Amendment, according to Axios.
“I didn’t believe it, but I started seeing it a lot more than usual,” said junior Je’marie Willbright. “I got scared and worried because what am I going to do when I wake up [or] when I’m going to sleep? But I remembered the 2020 ban and they didn’t ban it; they do this every year.”
Personally, I was scared to be bored for once. I didn’t want TikTok to go along with my saved sounds, likes and favorites.
The day finally arrived, and in habit, I reached for my phone. I clicked the same place every morning: TikTok’s spot. As I clicked, I remembered the ban and saw the company’s message to all U.S. citizens.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the message read. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
For some people like sophomore Ainsley Quinn, this change might have been for the better.
“Per week I spend 67 hours [on Tik Tok]. I do think I am addicted to TikTok,” said Quinn. “I thought the reason behind the ban was stupid, but it was good because I wasn’t on my phone as much.”
Unlike Quinn, freshman Jackson Lane didn’t find a good reason for the ban.
“I was angry about the ban because he was going to ban it just because he thought China was watching us,” says Lane. “I kept trying to open [TikTok] and it wouldn’t work, so I threw my phone out of anger.”
All day I was switching between shows, Instagram reels, and sleeping, as I frantically waited for the ban to end. Like freshman Jarrod Cipriano, I kept clicking on TikTok out of habit and getting disappointed.
“I kept opening [TikTok] out of habit, and then one time it was there,” says Cipriano. “I didn’t even realize it was unbanned.”
According to Builtin, TikTok came back around 12 hours later due to Trump’s executive order, giving the company 75 days to sell.
TikTok does still work as normal on devices if you didn’t delete it when it went dark. Unfortunately for people who deleted the app, they can’t get TikTok back because Apple and Google removed the app from their stores.
“I got the message that it was banned and I was going to get a jumpstart on not having it. I deleted it before it was actually gone,” said sophomore Izzy Zakrzewski. “Then people were saying it was back and I already deleted it, so I went to the App Store and it wasn’t there. I do regret it. I have been OK without it, but I miss it. When I wake up in the morning, I still just want to scroll.”
TikTok is a good way to share opinions on anything you want to, and it opens an umbrella of different opportunities. Small businesses thrive on being able to promote on social media and being able to stay afloat thanks to how easy it was to get the word out about their business.
Even though I’m going to miss TikTok if it goes dark for good, it won’t change my whole life, unlike influencers, whose income will be taken away. Most will move onto YouTube, but the serious question is if any of the frequent watchers can maintain that attention span.
TikTok should stay. The app does more good than wrong if you are using the app for the right reasons. As the days count down for the company to sell, Americans wait to say their goodbyes one last time.
This is the opinion of Charlotte Yakavonis, a junior reporter for the Chief Advocate.
