Teenagers Want Their TikTok
Despite the dozens of social media apps in circulation, TikTok is one of the most popular among high school students.
Teens like me are endlessly scrolling on the ‘For You’ page because of its algorithm that tailors to watchers’ interests.
However, on Jan. 19, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on TikTok, which led users to think that was the end of the app. But when Donald Trump was inaugurated, he issued an executive order delaying the enforcement of the ban for 75 days. And though his administration is exploring ways to keep TikTok on line, many students are still mad about the possibility of it leaving again.
Lucia Pierdant believes the TikTok ban is a violation of our First Amendment rights.
“Why is our government censoring our media?” said the Miramonte senior. “Why is the government controlling what we can or can’t see?”
But many in positions of power see TikTok as a potential weapon for China, and justify the ban for national security reasons.
“[It] collects far-reaching and sophisticated data from its users,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told the NJ Spotlight News last year. “This data is an enormous asset to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a known adversary, and their aligned activities.”
Nevertheless, students still find the ban unnecessary.
Hana Shukairy, a junior at Miramonte doesn’t have TikTok due to its addictive nature, but doesn’t agree with Congress’s stance.
“The TikTok ban doesn’t affect me personally, but I believe in free speech and this censorship is something I don’t agree with,” said Shukairy.
Student officers from Miramonte’s non-partisan political discussion club Centerpoint have noticed how polarizing the TikTok ban has become between Congress and young constituents.
Clare Lenny, a junior and an officer of Centerpoint, has seen people get back at the ban by downloading RedNote, an app that adheres to the CCP’s data-sharing guidelines.
“It is ironic that when the app crashed, people moved to RedNote, which sounds like it’d be a much bigger Communist propaganda platform,” said Lenny. (“RedNote” translates to “Xiaohongshu” in Chinese, which refers to different quotations from Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.)
Yet, Lenny doesn’t agree with the national security reasons Congress cites.
“U.S. officials’ concern that TikTok is promoting Communist propaganda was never my experience, and my feed was rarely political (aside from election week),” Lenny said.
Despite the free speech issue, Lenny agrees with the ban – but on different grounds.
“Aside from politics, I overall agree with the TikTok ban because since I deleted the app, I find myself spending less time on my phone,” she said.
Lucas Rasher, a Miramonte junior, said TikTok is limiting students’ productivity.
“TikTok plagues the minds of young people and is a distraction from anything relevant or practical in the real world,” he said.
Whether TikTok’s negatives are national security or its time-consuming nature, students’ opinions remain strong – and will only get stronger if the app is eventually banned in the United States.
