According to the Pew Research Center, the United States holds one-third of its U.S. adults as TikTok users. There have been recent talks about the proposed TikTok ban from all devices across the United States. But why? This movement is supported by 38% of Americans. How did this all come into play, and will it ever really become a reality?
It all began when TikTok was banned from all federal mobile devices. This legislation occurred in December 2022. This was done for security reasons, as there was speculation of their ties with China. This is likely due to TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which is based in China. There are also issues with other social media platforms like Facebook, such as data collection and usage. Moving on to March of 2023, there were discussions of approvals to give authority to identify, restrict, and maybe even ban TikTok as a whole to the federal government. The authority of banning TikTok was also approved and given to President Biden. Exactly a year later, there were discussions and talks about moving the ban on TikTok, which the U.S. House of Representatives ultimately voted to pass.
If TikTok sticks to its parent company, ByteDance, and isn’t sold to another company (preferably a U.S. one), then it may face further legislation and restrictions, and potentially a ban in the future. But with the significant percentage of U.S. adults and an even larger number of U.S. teenagers who are behind TikTok, it is difficult to say whether or not it will face a ban. The debate will further continue in the Senate, and from there, we can see how it will play out.
