On Tuesday April 23 the U.S. Senate approved a bill that would ban TikTok. The United States House of Representatives already passed a bill April 20, that would give “TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S assets of the short video-app, or face a ban”.
The popular social media app with 150 million monthly U.S active users is known for it’s short videos that can consist of anything from funny skits to education content, dance and lip sync videos and more.
TikTok has been a successful platform for American business owners and entrepreneurs to promote their brand and build a platform. As news of the bill surfaced all over the internet TikTok users had a few thoughts to share.
TikTok influencer and NECC student Pedro Rentas who has gained a following of 122,000 followers with his videos getting thousands of views stated, “I think it would be unfortunate if they banned TikTok because it is a great platform for content creators like me to have a voice and relate to other people”.
Influencers like Pedro Rentas have mentioned how TikTok has helped them gain a community that feels like family where they can showcase their creativity and build a virtual connection.
TikTok has been a platform that during the pandemic helped thousands of active users keep a sane mind when lockdown measurements had taken place.
NECC alumni student Diana Martinez stated, “I remember during lockdown I downloaded the app just to see what everyone was talking about, and I actually ended up really enjoying watching all the short videos and still till this day I enjoy it, it’s a different vibe on TikTok”.
The United States main concern with TikTok is that it opposes a national security threat because the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on Americans and could possibly influence Americans by amplifying or suppressing certain content.
“I mean I get it when it comes to security reasons, but I feel like this can happen with any other social media platform as well not just TikTok,” said Diana Martinez.
The Senate is set to vote on the bill later today. Now Americans wait as the future of Americans having access to the social media app is uncertain.
