Silencing The Youth? The Banning of Tiktok’s Impact ON Politics

TikTok is a place where millions of young people perform, explore dances and make their own creative videos for anyone from all over the world to see. In past years, however, TikTok has become a prominent place for political activism and news to spread to its young audience. Although the service does not allow political ads, many political figures have used this app for campaigning and marketing through their own account. TikTok is currently owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance, which has led some lawmakers to fear that U.S. data could be subject to handling by the Chinese government.

This fun and creative app is tailored to one’s different interests and is currently in talks of being banned for the second time. Back in 2020, former president Donald Trump’s administration first threatened it with a ban via executive order if it did not sell itself to a US-based company. Then, in June of 2021, President Joe Biden went on to sign an executive order revoking the Trump administration’s potential ban on TikTok and instead directing the Secretary of Commerce to see if the app poses a threat to national security.

As the primary audience and users of TikTok is Gen Z, the loss of this platform would make it significantly more difficult for young people to access political content and mobilize around political causes. According to a report done by the education advocacy organization Murmuration, the Walton Family Foundation and the public opinion firm SocialSphere, Gen Z mostly uses social media sources to access trending and current news. So, if TikTok were to be banned, this would lead to a decrease in political participation among young people who are unaware of any political news. Additionally, the banning of TikTok could send a message to young people that their voices and political expressions are not valued, which could further discourage their political engagement.

In recent years, TikTok has been used by various social and political movements to spread awareness and organize protests. For example, during the Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. in 2020, TikTok was used to share information about demonstrations, amplify the voices of Black activists and call for justice.

In the case of Tiktok being banned over national security concerns and the collection of user data by the Chinese government, the ban would effectively prevent Americans from using the app, thereby limiting their ability to engage in free media and free speech activities on the platform. If this

Ava Stuzin News Editor

a.stuzin.thepanther@gmail.com

DESIGN BY PAULA ORTIZ

BY MADELINE VOLPE

global sensation is to be banned, what is next? Will all forms of global media then be at risk? The banning of TikTok is just a reason to limit Gen Z’s ability to access global news and spread activism. Therefore, a ban on TikTok that challenges the rights of Americans to express themselves would violate the First Amendment, which protects the basic freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or any American’s right to speak freely, among other rights.

The ban on TikTok would be a blatant violation of fundamental human rights and individualism. A person should be able to make the decision about what apps they want to have on their electronics and if they want to take the risk of exposing their data to Chinese organizations.

By restricting one’s media, the U.S. is simply trying to strip young people’s knowledge of activism and political freedom. If the ban on TikTok is to be set in place, that just shows that the U.S. is taking a step in the wrong direction and embodying the very values of an authoritarian nation.