Madison Everett

Christopher Baxter

American Political Institutions and Policies

04 April 18, 2023

Writing Prompt 2: Should Congress Ban TikTok?

TikTok is a popular social media platform that allows for individuals to express

their creative ideas, and express and voice their opinions. The app is used by many

people not just in America, but all over the world. TikTok is used for many purposes,

and some of these purposes includes using the app to broadcast messages to certain

audiences. Many social media platforms use personal user data to suggest

advertisements and to introduce the user to other people they may know. The U.S.

government and China’s government have been disputing for years. The TikTok app is

in the possession of a Chinese citizen. The U.S. government in recent weeks have been

bringing down drones and satellites that were found over U.S. soil. The U.S.

government has been trying to ban TikTok since 2020. The government has been

devising negotiations with the owner of the app.

One of the negotiations included selling the app to an American company in

order to continue the usage in the United States. The U.S. government banned TikTok

from all government officials' phones' and any other government issued devices. The

ban was put in place to avoid the Chinese government gaining access to the U.S.

government information. The argument in place is that the owner of TikTok is working

with the Chinese government. The CEO is giving the Chinese government American

user data. According to the “Why Countries are Banning TikTok,” the Chineses
government has a law in place that gives them permission to request user data from

companies. The U.S. government is afraid that the government will learn of American

location and other sensitive information.

Many countries, government offices, and universities have banned the app on

their networks. According to the article “Will the US Ban TikTok,” the U.S. has been

trying to ban TikTok since 2020 but it was delayed. Many foreign countries have been

concerned with the Chinese communist party using their power to access companies'

information. In the article titled, “Why Countries are Banning TikTok,” on February 27,

2020 the U.S. government banned the app on government issued devices. Many other

countries have banned TikTok as well. These countries include Canada, Britain,

Australia, and many other countries. All of these countries fear the same thing from

TikTok. Tiktok’s argument is that other apps within the country keep user data just like

TikTok, so the only thing that the government is afraid of is the Chinese government.

As of April 2023, TikTok has been banned in the U.S. on public networks. The

ban of tiktok on public networks means that the app will not load in networks that have

the servers blocked. After the ban, Universities and schools have since blocked TikTok

on their servers. In the article titled, “Why TikTok Bans have made it onto college

campuses,” some colleges have influencers that have helped bring popularity, students,

and for some more funding from sponsors. The ban could potentially be detrimental to

some of the universities funding. The real reason universities and schools have banned

TikTok is that these companies and universities can lose government funding. Most

universities and almost all local schools are funded by government money. If these

schools do not abide by this ban, students on the local level could lose the funding
necessary to feed them during school hours. This can also apply to universities.

Universities can lose the funding they need to stay open and to offer scholarships.

Congress has a good relevant reason to want to ban the app. Congress is

supposed to protect the citizens of America, and they are supposed to protect the well-

being of Americans. The government felt threatened by the involvement of ByteDance,

and the ability of the government to easily gain access to companies’ information, which

includes user data. A complete ban of TikTok is a violation of freedom of speech. The

app is solely used to express one’s creative side, or even spread awareness for things

that are not making headlines. Over the years as TikTok has gained popularity, the app

has been able to help people bring awareness to illness, community issues, and other

things that the news or newspapers may not discuss.

In conclusion, the ban of TikTok can be a good and bad thing. It is a good thing

because there is not a threat to the safety of Americans, but a bad thing because a lot

of influencers will lose their platform, some universities can lose sponsors, and some

people will lose their voices.