TikTok, the favorite app among much of America’s youth, has recently been under fire with the United States Government. A bill, which was recently signed by President Joe Biden, mandates that if ByteDance, the company which owns TikTok, does not sell the app to a U.S company within a year, TikTok will be banned in the United States.
The concerns with the app rose over the possibility that ByteDance, a Chinese owned company, was exposing the sensitive data of its users to the Chinese government. There were also concerns that they could use TikTok’s content recommendation system to fuel misinformation in their favor. While they could sell the company, it is extremely unlikely as TikTok has been extremely successful for the company, and selling it would be giving up one of the most popular apps on the planet.
People arguing against the ban have said that it is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and that in banning the app, the U.S is trying to silence its young people and is not playing its part in promoting an internet free of government censorship.
The U.S is not the first country to ban TikTok. India banned the app in 2020, cutting off one of the apps biggest markets. Other countries, such as Britain, France, Australia, and more, have banned members of their respective governments from having the app on official devices.
U.S Senator Maria Cantwell said on the senate floor, “Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”
ByteDance has since begun fighting against the ban in court, and is confident that they have a strong, winnable case. CEO Shou Zi Chew, in a video posted to TikTok said, “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again.”
In the meantime, he said he does not expect any issues with the app, meaning users can keep enjoying TikTok. Only time will tell what is next for ByteDance.
