Is social media beneficial for society? This question has plagued politicians, technology specialists, health experts, and regular parents for the last decade, with neither side reaching a clear answer. Nowadays, social media is used by approximately 63% of the entire population, and across all platforms and users, has collected around a total of 500 million years. At the forefront of these apps include American companies such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat as well as TikTok, a chinese company focused on delivering short form content. While the industry has traditionally been dominated by the aforementioned American companies, TikTok has exponentially rose in user rate post pandemic and has now surpassed X as the fourth most popular social media platform. However, its rise has also drawn suspicion to the app’s intentions, particularly due to its ties to the Chinese Communist Party as well as its ability to data mine its users for private information.
On March 13, 2024, with a majority vote of 352-65, the house overwhelmingly passed a measure that gave ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, an ultimatum: to either sell all their shares in TikTok or have the app be banned from the US. The motives behind the bill, dubbed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Applications Act”, are simple: to block any app associated with ByteDance that have the capability to spread propaganda and mine data. “You had member offices being deluged with calls, you know, teenagers crying and one threatening suicide and one impersonating on of my colleague’s songs. That, to me, demonstrates how the platform can be weaponized in the future … What we’re after is, it’s not a ban, it’s a forced separation,” Mike Gallagher, the Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said.
The act has also drawn criticism from numerous House Representatives citing a breach in first amendment rights. “I think that it is a violation of people’s First Amendment rights. Tik tok is a place for people to express ideas. I have many small businesses in my district and content creators in my district, and I think it’s going to drastically impact them too,” Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost said.
For those fearful of the app’s ban, the bill still has to be signed President Biden and approved by the Senate. However, ByteDance is adamant not to sell their shares in TikTok. In short, TikTok will most likely get banned but, it is very unlikely for TikTok to be banned any time soon. Whether that is good for society or not, high schoolers like us will get to spend a few more precious months scrolling through Tik Tok before a big change comes into our lives.
