On Wednesday, March 13th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on the popular social media app, TikTok. Some even argue it is addictively popular. This bill stunned TikTok’s 1 billion active users. Earlier in the week the TikTok app sent out a notification asking its creators to call their representative and urge them to stop the ban on TikTok. This notification sparked a panic throughout influencers whose income sometimes comes solely from TikTok. Influencers throughout the app made videos urging their followers to call their representative and advocate for the security of the app. However, the apps users did not have a great enough impact to stop the bill from passing.
The bill passed easily with 352 votes to 65 votes. The majority of votes for the bill were from Republican representatives. This was anticipated in politics, for President Joe Biden did announce he would sign the bill into action if it reached his desk. This is because the government sees TikTok as a threat to our national security, as it is owned by a Chinese company.
Once the bill passed, many creators waited for the app to delete from their phones, however that was not the case. As of right now, all the bill stands for is that TikTok must be sold to an American company within five months of the bill’s passing. CNN Politics went on to say, “If not divested by that time, it would be illegal for app store operators such as Apple and Google to make it available for download.”
TikTok has since referred to the legislation as “an attack on the constitutional right to freedom of expression for its users.” The company also explained their mission in keeping its users’ “data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.” TikTok is continuing to fight the bill as they claim it will affect hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
From the TikTok notification urging its users to fight the bill and then to the passing of the bill, we have seen, specifically, Generation Z go into shambles. Our younger generation went into panic mode over a social media app being taken from them. It is important to notice that national security might not be the only issue, but also social media addiction. The chaos that the bill has caused leaves us to question, “Maybe we need a break from TikTok?”
Works Cited
Radford, Antoinette, et al. “House Passes Bill That Could Lead to US Ban of TikTok.” CNN Politics, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024, www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/tiktok-ban-bill-house-vote-03-13-24/index.html. Accessed 14 Mar. 2024.
