By Maddie McComb

Photo credit: Nordskov Media.

I’m always scrolling endlessly watching videos of people dancing, singing, and creating trends on the app TikTok. All I have to do is press record to begin the music and create my video, but this could all be taken away. As there are at least 102.3 million active user accounts in the US, TikTok is used and loved. Many more citizens watch TikTok without having an account, spreading the app’s popularity even more.

As detailed by Madison Lewis’ (‘25) January Match article on TikTok’s growth, the popular app has attracted controversies.

In 2016, Musical.ly, an app for lip-syncing, was sold to the Chinese company ByteDance and renamed TikTok. It grew popular in the United States as more users created and posted dancing, memes, or any video ideas they imagined. 

Despite the app’s popularity, there has been a push to ban TikTok in the United States. On March 13, with the support of 352 Representatives, the US House of Representatives passed a bill stating that ByteDance would have six months to sell the app, or TikTok would no longer be allowed in the United States. These six months would begin if the bill is signed into law.

On April 20, an article from The Washington Post explained how both houses of Congress passed the bill as part of an aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that included the TikTok ban inside the legislation. This bill expanded the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app from six to nine months. President Joe Biden could extend this deadline by 90 days. 

On April 24, Biden signed the aid package and TikTok bill into law, as explained by CNBC. The company’s response on X to the official passing of the bill was that they “will challenge it in court.” 

TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew was present at a House hearing on March 13. An article from the BBC quotes that Chew believes the bill “would give more power to a handful of other social media companies.” As quoted by CNBC, Chew also stated how the bill will take “billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses.” Many people’s small businesses have grown and succeeded through TikTok. 

In The New York Times in March, reporters David McCabe and Sapna Maheshwari wrote that the United States government is concerned with the app because “TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a national security risk because Beijing could use the app to gain access to Americans’ data or run a disinformation campaign.” Therefore, the Chinese government could obtain vast amounts of data on the millions of United States citizens who use the app.

The Times’ article examined if the app would be easy to sell in those nine months. With the popularity of the app, “TikTok would carry a high price tag, which few companies or individuals could afford.” Even if only selling the United States portion of the app, the sale would be an expensive price. 

Once the sale period is over, app stores would no longer allow users to download the app. For the people who already have TikTok downloaded, they would not be allowed any new updates. 

Gabriela Linkonis (‘25) says she would “miss TikTok, because the feed on TikTok can be very entertaining and funny, leading to my mood being lifted.”

Izzy Rigby (‘25) says that “since Instagram reels are becoming more popular, TikTok is becoming less necessary.” Heath Brown (‘25) wouldn’t care if TikTok was banned, “as other apps do the same thing.” Instagram reels is a feed on the popular app, owned by social media giant Meta, for their users to scroll and watch videos similar to those on TikTok.  Meta also owns Facebook and WhatsApp. However, Rigby would miss “seeing more familiar people doing TikTok.” 

Rigby uses TikTok “as a source to find inspiration for outfits in the future.” Alice Davis (‘25) commented how she would miss TikTok, as she has “found so many good food recipes and cute clothes” while on the app. 

Some legal scholars say that banning TikTok in America would violate the First Amendment, so the future of the app is still uncertain.