Could viral social media platform TikTok come to an end? Throughout the years, TikTok has faced security issues and potential bans. Recently, TikTok being banned has been brought to light, and the CEO is undergoing a trial and is being questioned by the entirety of Congress. The main issue proposed by Congress is security breaches and data being captured by TikTok. They claim that “TikTok collects nearly every data point imaginable”. They are concerned about US government areas being found and useful United States data being given to the Chinese Government through TikTok. Aswell as teenager safety involving the allegations. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has certain laws required from the CCP (Communist Party of China). They argue that the CCP laws require Chinese Companies like ByteDance to spy on their behalf. This means any Chinese Company must grant the CCP access and manipulation capabilities as a design feature. The CEO of TikTok, Chew, continually claims that the app has no bad intentions. Chew argues and ensures that he has not spoken to any government officials since he has been appointed as CEO of the company. The government wants to ban it because of feared security breaches and that TikTok can access the phone and its location, microphone and even camera. Here are some student’s opinions on the proposed ban: 

-Colin Thomas: “I think it’s stupid that it might get banned and the government is tripping.”

-Noah Hardesty: “I don’t think it would be the worst thing and it may help with productivity.”

-Holden Condo: “I think that I will miss TikTok if it is banned but I feel that students will focus more.” 

We created a google form and gathered info on opinions from other students at Crosstown. Of the 19 responses, we found that 52.6% of people do care that social media can access their personal info, while 47.4% did not. 68.4% of students support a ban of TikTok, while 31.6% didn’t. This can reflect on the TikTok trial, as people’s opinions are different and everyone can disagree on what they feel comfortable with in terms of privacy.

So what do you guys think? Should TikTok be banned and why?