In a surprising move that left students shocked, SCOTUS has upheld congresses law banning TikTok due to national security concerns. This decision left millions of American teens scrambling to find new platforms for their creative expressions and their daily dose of dopamine.
According to CBS News, at 10:30 pm, Saturday, January 19, TikTok disappeared from app stores. TikTok became inaccessible due to a law passed in Congress last year. However, the TikTok ban only impacted the United States.
“I first heard about the ban on TikTok,” sophomore Audrey Savasky said. “I didn’t actually think that it was going to happen, I thought it was just a rumor.”
The BCC stated that people found the ban surprising and unreal at first. However, they eventually realized that TikTok would be banned. Additionally, users reported that the app had also been removed from both Apple and Google’s U.S. app stores.
“I think that teens are too addicted to their phones and that they are uneducated in the real world,” Savasky said. “I have been able to disconnect since I accidentally deleted TikTok and I have been able to focus on homework.”
The Verge claimed that TikTok or other ByteDance apps like CapCut are still not able to be re-downloaded. So, people who deleted the app during the ban are unable to re-download the app, as of press time.
“I used TikTok pretty much every day and opening the app every morning became muscle memory before it got banned,” sophomore Jacob Geldart said. “Although, TikTok getting banned doesn’t change anything for me since there will be other apps created to have a similar format to TikTok.”
According to AP News, there are apps like Rednote which have been around for over a decade which have a similar format to TikTok. Although, both apps are Chinese owned which causes concerns from the government due to social security risks.
“I don’t think that any other apps are at risk of getting banned,” Geldart said. “Most other apps are American-owned companies.”
The New York Times stated that TikTok’s owner, ByteDance has said for years that they will not sell the app to an American company due to the fact that the Chinese government would not allow the export of its addicting video format. However, the ban says TikTok can no longer be controlled by any Chinese-owned company.
“All of my students are constantly on TikTok,” Bowie track coach Lora Tilson said. “I don’t really agree with the ban because I do believe that everyone has a First Amendment right and that TikTok should not be banned.”
According to Built In, Donald Trump extended the ban for 90 days. However, after the 90 days are up, if TikTok has not sold their company to an American-owned brand, a permanent ban will be reconsidered.
“During the ban I deleted TikTok and now I can’t get it back,” Savasky said. “I am upset that I deleted it because I don’t know how long it will be before I can get it back.”CBS News claimed that most of the reasons the government banned it were based on accusations that TikTok is sharing personal information of its users. The U.S. government claimed that the Chinese government could access sensitive user data through the app.
“Although the TikTok ban didn’t last for too long there is a possibility that the app could be banned again in the future,” Dauterive said. “I don’t think it matters that much though because new apps will always be created.”
