The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban TikTok in America if its Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. does not sell its stake, under a supposed threat to national security. 

President Biden has gone on record saying he would sign a bill that bans TikTok if it came across his desk, which has caused concern for its over 170 million U.S. users. 

The government’s hysteria around TikTok comes from their belief that ByteDance Ltd. ultimately answers to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and will hand over user data on American citizens to a foreign adversary, making TikTok itself a “national security threat.”

If signed, this bill would create a process for the president to designate any social media applications under foreign control as national security threats and potentially ban access to them in America. 

This ban opens a can of worms granting our government far too much influence over the applications American citizens can use. As a nation that takes pride in personal freedoms for all, this ban would be a massive infringement on those freedoms. 

If this bill is signed into law, American citizens will no longer be able to access TikTok if its parent company refuses to cave to governmental pressure, which enforces the lack of control that citizens have on issues like this one. 

In a presidential election year, with a border crisis looming and the cost of living being higher than ever before, the only thing gaining bipartisan support in our government is a ban on a social media platform millions of Americans enjoy.

It would be laughable if it was not so sad. 

The very idea of freedom has changed in America ever since the signing of the USA Patriot Act into law in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The act allowed government agencies to collect personal records and data on citizens without a judge’s approval and with very few limits. 

Since this bill passed, trust in the government has declined immensely, with fewer and fewer people believing the government has their best interests at heart. 

This is the case with a potential TikTok ban. It fuels the belief that the U.S. government is concerned solely with a foreign entity having its citizens’ data, which is not an easy pill to swallow. 

It is far more likely they are fearful of the connection and information sharing possible on TikTok, particularly among young people. Young people can share information about political and social topics that can shape their voting decisions, which are particularly important in an election year. 

The news cycle is so dense and ever-changing that it can be difficult to stay informed on every story that comes out. 

This process is made easier through apps like TikTok that allow everyday Americans to share news in a format unaffected by the ever-present media bias and perceived propaganda that functions to mislead the public for political gain. 

It is unknown if the TikTok ban will pass the Senate, but if it does, users and creators will be worse off for it. 

TikTok should be accessible to all Americans who are willing to use it and our government should not be able to decide what its citizens can do online if we want to continue to champion the freedoms we are afforded as citizens of the United States. 

But of course, that’s just one man’s opinion. 

Categories: Opinion

Tags: Opinion