Three Reasons Why Tik Tok Shouldn't Be Banned

by Anna Frasso

Where do you go when you want mindless entertainment or your news or to learn new things? Do you use Instagram? Facebook? What about TikTok? If you fall under the category of a TikTok user the proposed bill that could ban TikTok may be heavy on your mind. But what is the ban and what does it really mean?  

The bill has gained support by both Republicans and Democrats as there is a fear over national security. The United States is concerned about national security because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance. It is thought that China could use TikTok to get involved in the upcoming Presidential election. The bill, which passed through the House with a 352-65 vote, is requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok within 6 months or the United States will pull it from all app stores essentially banning it.  

This proposed bill is extremely complicated and isn’t as simple as just banning TikTok for the sake of banning it. There are several aspects that have to be considered before this kind of a ban is implemented. It’s estimated that ByteDance is worth about 150 billion dollars which would make this sale extremely complex. But it goes beyond just the money aspect of this deal as there are several legal layers that have to be taken into consideration. It’s possible that this kind of a deal wouldn’t be able to be completed in the 6 month time frame that they’re given and if that’s the case TikTok will more than likely be banned. 

But who is going to be affected by this bill? Well, virtually anyone who has at any time used TikTok, whether they’re an influencer or just a regular content consumer. According to Statista, it is estimated that there are about 148.2 million people who use TikTok in the United States, making it the country with the most users. This is another layer to this proposed ban that is complicated as users of TikTok want it to stay around. 

In fact, knowing that there are so many users in the United States, TikTok has encouraged people to reach out to their representatives and voice their concerns for the ban. This is key as the majority of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 and 34 which could be key with an election coming up. TikTok has gone to great lengths to protect their user’s privacy but despite all of this supporters of the bill are pushing for TikTok to be stopped. 

So, knowing all of this information about why they’re proposing the bill, it’s important to highlight the benefits that TikTok brings to its users. 

Here are 3 important reasons why TikTok should stay.

Reason 1: People use TikTok to keep up with current news events locally, nationally and globally.

It is no secret that people use TikTok to learn about things going on in the world around them. It’s estimated that in 2023 around 43% of users on TikTok were using it to get their news. This is a pretty big number. There have been a few times when TikTok proved to be beneficial. Some of those times include during the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter movement as well as the 2020 election. Take the Black Lives Matter movement for example, people were using their platforms to bring awareness of what had happened to George Floyd. Through TikTok people were reposting the video, creating explanations, highlighting where protests would be taking place and overall just calling for change. This is important as it caused people to begin looking into this story. Not only was his story broadcasted nationally but even globally people were hearing what was going on and calling for change. On a smaller scale TikTok is useful for things happening locally. 

Another example of how TikTok was useful for the University of Delaware was in 2021. In 2021, a student assaulted a woman in an off-campus apartment and a UD student by the name of @famousblonde on TikTok created a video in which she called out the university for their lack of response and it ended up getting 1.6 million likes. In this video she included clips of a protest that occurred on Main Street as well as other students getting involved. This is an excellent example of the power of TikTok and its use for news because it spread amongst students and allowed them to get involved with what was happening locally. 

Reason 2: People use TikTok as a way to learn new skills or facts.

Besides being useful for the news, TikTok is a place where people can go to learn skills, recipes or even just fun facts. One group of people who often use TikTok are young students. For high school students in particular TikTok has served as a place they can go to when they have questions about school related things such as letters of recommendation. There’s study tips all over TikTok about ways to color coordinate notes or how to use the Pomodoro method. TikTok not only offers entertainment but it allows people to learn in ways they haven’t been able to before. People can find new restaurants, how to sew, how to cook or even how to speak a new language. Through TikTok people are allowed to ask questions they can’t ask other people or learn about places and history not taught in school. 

One skill that is probably the most popular throughout TikTok recently would be anything food related. Though the original point of TikTok was to be about dancing and lip synching it was interesting to note that during the COVID pandemic there was an influx in food related content. People were posting recipes and tips and tricks related to cooking. But why were these so entertaining? Well, it’s because they went from being long shows to 30-45 second videos that you could rewatch or save or even share. Additionally it empowered people to try new things and try out recipes that maybe they didn’t know how to make before. But also it gave people the ability to share parts of their culture and life through food.      

Reason 3: TikTok is useful for building a community or finding one. 

Perhaps the biggest reason TikTok is so useful is because it allows its users to build a community with people who share similar interests. Some examples of the communities that are on TikTok are nurses, single parents, teachers and even students. Through certain hashtags and interactions on the app, users are able to find these groups and connect with people from them. This is something that can be very beneficial as it allows people to learn from others in their community but allows them to educate others. For example, take the community of teachers. Teachers from all over the United States post about their experiences and what they’ve done in their classrooms for others to use. This shared bond of being a teacher allows for them to interact and collaborate and introduce new ideas. It also creates a community for the viewers to give opinions, send gifts and connect. 

Another great aspect about TikTok is that you can also create your own community whether you’re a content creator or just a viewer. There are several examples of this throughout TikTok but one of the more famous ones is a woman by the name of Ophelia who goes by @shoelover99 on TikTok. She gave the nickname of tater tots to her fans while she calls herself Mamatot. Though this may seem like just a random nickname, this allows her viewers to feel part of something. Very often her content is motherly advice or just life advice in general which sometimes people need. By having a community like this to turn to for simple advice, it allows people to feel as though they belong to something even if they don’t know the person. 

Though there are concerns for what TikTok has the potential to do as far as national security, it is hard to ignore how it has become a major part in many people's lives. This issue is far from over and is continuing to change as the days and weeks go on. It's important to remember that for some people TikTok is their community and a place they go to in order to stay up to date and learn.