Running Out of Time
TikTok is Being Endangered as The United States Congress Pushes Towards Eradication
On Thursday March 23, the CEO of Tiktok faced congress and the United States' objective to ban the social media platform despite users' opinions. Shou Zi Chew defended and elaborated on the app’s intentions and policies for nearly six hours in the courtroom as he was interrogated by Republicans and Democrats alike.
According to statista.com, The United States carries the world’s largest TikTok audience, containing 113.25 million as of January 2023. This could immensely damage the platform and its revenue if it were to be banned, giving the impression that the CEO could be fighting for the app solely for the purpose of financial gain even though he claims otherwise. According to apnews.com, Chew protests that “TikTok prioritizes the safety of its young users and denied it’s a national security risk.
Movement towards smaller amounts of Chinese ownership has been made in order to accommodate some of the apparent ‘issues' with the app, due to the fact that information being sold is a seemingly important problem to the US. Although, some believe that this doesn’t matter whatsoever, and that TikTok is solely a problem in and of itself.
The grip social media can have on our generation is severe, but most believe Tiktok takes it to another level. Even though teens are the main audience social media caters to, a miniscule amount hate the control it can have over people. A vast amount of studies have been done on social media, with most of them coming up with negative results and effects on people.
While social media can have serious consequences, it has provided some good in our world. Protests have been occurring, providing supporters who want to keep Tiktok alive. It’s assisted in building small businesses, creating new friendships, connecting people across the globe, and more. Some live and thrive online, loving what it brought to our world. No matter what Tiktok has done for you, it might not be able to do anything more once it’s gone.
Even though users on the app are fighting to keep Tiktok through the many advantages it brings, it remains a controversial topic as teens and adults dispute the negative effects the platform has on those who use it. As Congress fights and pursues further evidence to the contrary, there’s only so much that pro-Tiktok users can do.
