OPINION: What’s the deal with TikTok getting banned?

As someone who hasn’t downloaded TikTok since its 2015 Music.ly peak, hearing on and off about TikTok getting banned has never been a point of interest for me until now.

Up until recently, TikTok seemed like a place where people just had a good time 一 whether that’d be dancing to popular songs or creating their own sketches or tutorials 一 not a threat to national security. 

Because of America’s apparent technology battle with China, the Trump administration announced on Sept. 18 that they would be deleting both TikTok and WeChat 一 both Chinese-owned mobile apps 一 from U.S. app stores on Sept. 20. This was later not followed through with and there has yet to be any follow-up remarks. 

To me, this seems like a random attack against the 100 million Americans who use this app, according to The New York Times. App-users are just trying to have a good time and relieve the stress that the COVID-19 Pandemic has caused. But, I guess banning an innocent app is more important to the U.S. government than sending out COVID-19 relief packages or telling their citizens to wear a mask. 

Not only has TikTok been a hub for those who want to make fun content, but it has also been a place for teens with no social media presence before to flourish into millionaires 一  for example the now famous names such as Charlie D’Amelio and Addison Rae. 

TikTokers have grouped up to live in multi-million dollar houses to film their content and if TikTok gets deleted this could mean ruining their so-called careers. 

While I don’t think these TikTokers should be paid more than almost any normal job, of course, I wouldn’t want these kids to lose everything they’ve worked for. Even though most rose to fame through this app, they have spread their sources of income to brand deals on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, so it seems as though they could be fine without the termination of the app. But, come on, these people dancing on the internet should be the least of our worries right now.

And before you ask the big question, which is why Apple or Google can’t stop the app from being deleted from their stores, both of these companies have said that they will comply with the local laws, according to The New York Times. So even though these companies are making heaps of money through one of their most popular apps, they aren’t doing anything to stop it. 

Even though at this point, the claims that TikTok was going to be banned last Sunday night are no longer, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear another threat to TikTok here shortly. Especially after the app claimed to be getting banned in August.

 In the meantime, I’m going to go check to see if TikTok has downloaded on my phone yet and use the hours of time I’ve set aside to filter my ForYou page.