On January 18, 2025 at 9:30 p.m., over 170 million Americans temporarily lost their access to the TikTok app. The United States government’s reasoning behind the ban was due to the fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, causing concern for American users and national security. Many users across the country protested the ban before it took effect, but the Supreme Court ultimately upheld their decision, as TikTok had yet to be sold to a U.S. owner.
Riverside Brookfield High School students are sharing their opinions on the app and its temporary 14-hour shutdown, as well as thoughts on how the government carried it out.
“In my opinion, there are a lot of different things we could be banning rather than Tiktok that should take precedence over this,” said senior Olivia Dobbe. “Especially because the ban was so short, this time could have been used for a lot of better things.”
President Donald Trump, who originally proposed the ban in 2020, has been claimed to have worked with the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, along with the U.S. government to restore access for American people. However, it is not here to stay. Unless sold to an American company or buyer, TikTok will be banned again for Americans once President Trump’s 90-day extension is up.
“I think Americans should vote on it,” said senior Leah Zelinski. “I think this is the least of the government’s concern right now because there are many major problems happening in the world right now.”
Many American issues, including housing, healthcare, natural disasters, and mass shootings, are seemingly being swept under the rug while TikTok’s ban passed through every branch of government with ease. Congress members even went on and accused TikTok of hacking home Wi-Fi networks, tracking pupil dilation in users, and even that Chew was a part of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I think it [TikTok] is an outlet for many teenagers, and I don’t think it’s as harmful as they say,” said senior Lily Kelly. “I do agree that many people are addicted to it, but I don’t think it’s necessary to ban it.”
Although some government officials may not be the most educated about TikTok and what it really does, this ban and all the debate around it has raised the question of data sharing and whether or not it is something that social media users everywhere should be concerned about.
“If I’m online, I know that my data is out there, and it is going to be accessible to someone who is really trying,” Dobbe said. “Having my data out there is not really an issue to me because that’s just the choice you make when you’re willing to be online.”
Many have also argued that, since their data is being shared not only with TikTok but even American-owned companies such as Meta, this ban can be seen as simply trying to take away the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
“I don’t think there was an issue with TikTok in the first place other than it harming political figures and their personas,” Dobbe said.
Even those who have never downloaded or used the app, such as senior Alec Oltrogge, are sharing their thoughts on the ban.
“The government already uses a lot of social medias to spy on us, so even if it’s Chinese or American, I don’t really care either way who is spying on me,” Oltrogge said.
Since the ban, those who have deleted or did not own the app prior to the ban have no way, besides VPNs, of downloading the app to their devices.
“I deleted it for storage, and I quickly realized that it came back,” Kelly said. “ I had the idea to get a VPN, and I redownloaded it.”