President Joe Biden has officially said that if the “TikTok ban” bill is put in front of his desk, he will sign it. The House of Representatives voted on the bill, and now, it’s making its way to Senate.
But what does all this mean? What is the legislation?
Although media calls it a “TikTok ban,” that’s not entirely accurate. The bill would make TikTok choose to separate from the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from America. The U.S. government is concerned that the Chinese government will use TikTok to steal data from Americans or spread propaganda. Betsy Emmons, a Mass Media professor at Samford, shared her thoughts about the bill.
“What is probably misunderstood by a lot of people is just how much data social media apps collect about each of us,” Emmons said. “So, I don’t necessarily have a problem with the TikTok ban if there are not clear answers on how the data is being collected and used. We can’t ignore the fact that China doesn’t have much of a vested interest in promoting United States interests, and data can be politicized.”
With TikTok being such a popular app for college students, most Samford students have an opinion about the bill, including junior Lydia Lauderback.
“My thoughts are that the U.S government has other things that they should be worrying about, respectfully,” she said. “It just feels like, sometimes, our officials are focusing on things that really don’t affect Americans whatsoever.”
Other students that enjoy TikTok are not worried about the bill making it far. Freshman Belle Nabors was interested in the bill, but overall, does not think it will pass.
“I think that it’s not actually going to happen,” Nabors said. “It has to go through so many different people to actually get banned.”
Of course, many students enjoy using TikTok as a way to pass time, but what about the people who make a living off of TikTok? Because of how popular the app has become, many people, including college students are monetizing themselves on TikTok. If TikTok was removed from America, would this take away their livelihood? Would America be taking away an avenue for free speech?
“I don’t necessarily think it would be taking away a right because we have other social media that can serve the same purpose, and there’s lots of different ways to become an influencer,” Emmons said. “TikTok is just one app of many.”
If the bill is passed and TikTok does not separate with ByteDance, the question of “What next?” has come up. Many people believe that this will be like when Vine shut down, and TikTok became the new app for short videos.
“First of all, I don’t think it’s [the ban’s] going to happen, but if it does, we’ll just get another app just like it from America,” Nabors said.
If the bill is passed by the Senate and President Biden, TikTok would have six months to separate from their parent company before it is removed from America. For now, the conversation-sparking “TikTok ban” remains up in the air.
Arts & Life Editor
