Taking Down TikTok: Recently passed bills across the country have led to more restrictions on TikTok

The Kansas State Legislature passed House Bill 2314 on April 17 banning the popular Chinese social media platform TikTok across all government owned devices and networks.

While the bill was passed out of the House Legislative Modernization Committee unopposed, it didn't reach the senate this legislative session, which will conclude in early May, as other bills were prioritized. According to Kansas Senator Ethan Corson, the bill will most likely be brought up again next legislative session in January of 2023.

“It's probably an issue, whether it's in this particular bill or a different bill, that lawmakers will continue to look at,” Corson said. “I think there's just an understandable sensitivity and security concern around data and data privacy and data security.”

Under this bill, anyone connected to a state network will be restricted from using the app — a more serious step from Governor Laura Kelly’s bill issued last December that only banned the app on devices of members of the executive branch. The new restrictions are responses to national security concerns over the Chinese Communist Party accessing personal user information, according to the Kansas Reflector.

Although he didn’t vote on the bill, Corson supports it as he believes that restrictions on state-owned devices are reasonable. He thinks that it will continue to be an issue that will be discussed because of the security issues.

“It’s something that's reasonable that we should look at when it applies to just government-owned devices and networks, not people's personal networks,” Corson said.

Kansas Board of Education member Melanie Haas supports these regulations expanding to Kansas due to her concerns about security and mental health.

“I’d say I have a general distrust for [TikTok],” Haas said. “But also, it concerns me because it can be really addictive for both teens and adults, and I just don't see it as a healthy habit.”

In recent years, TikTok has raised concerns about mental health in users, especially teens, according to Columbia University Irving Medical Center. A recent study by the center linked social media time to increased depression in teens.

“We're looking at other people's lives through a lens that is essentially fake and trying to live up to a standard that is simply not achievable for us or for them,” Haas said. “[TikTok users] are essentially putting on a show.”

TikTok is used by students and teachers alike. Computer science and math teacher and soccer coach James Kelly uses TikTok to find soccer drills and watch funny videos. While he recognizes the security and health concerns, Kelly also doesn’t think a complete ban on the app is necessary.

“If it's something that [the government] thinks should be done to protect us as Americans then, OK,” Kelly said. “I just know that there's a lot of good things that are on TikTok. It's not all bad.”

Freshman Gabrielle Higgins uses every minute of her hour and a half TikTok time limit — set by her parents — watching funny videos of capybaras to send to friends.

“I'm not going to know what to do with my time because I'm gonna have so much free time,” Higgins said. “And I'm gonna be insanely bored in class because if I'm bored, all I ever do is watch TikTok.”

Higgins is also concerned about losing a source of information. In an Instagram poll of 255 votes 123 people believe that TikTok is a necessary source of information.

“[TikTok being banned is a] problem because a lot of young people wouldn't know what's happening in the world,” Higgins said.

Despite these concerns with bans on personal devices, the Kansas Legislature isn't the only government moving to restrict the app. Montana became the first state to pass a bill banning TikTok across all personal and state-owned devices on April 14.

While this may lead to greater restrictions in the state of Kansas, Corson believes that restrictions will remain fairly minimal for the time being. He doesn’t support banning TikTok on personal devices, believing that they should be controlled by only the owner and not the state.

“I think people should be able to do, within reason, what they want on their own personal device as long as they're not harming anybody else,” Corson said.