By: Charlotte Ormond
The surging popularity of TikTok, a social media sensation, has sparked safety concerns due to its Chinese ownership, triggering a fierce Capitol Hill battle over the prospect of banning the app.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on March 13 requiring ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the app within six months or face a ban on its operations in the U.S. The bill has received mixed opinions from both users of TikTok and opponents of the app.
A significant portion of TikTok’s user base falls within the 18-24 age bracket, so University of Maryland students shared their perspectives on the matter. According to a survey, among the 707 UMD students who participated, 504 are active users of the app, accounting for roughly 71% of the respondents who use TikTok.
UMD professor for the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism, social media expert, and Emmy-winning journalist Ronald Yaros pointed out that one of the biggest benefits of the app is, “the combination of the video-based content and the fact that most of the videos come from peers.” This sense of community within the app has become a major appeal for young users. Yaros also explains the rapid surge in popularity of the app stating, “It’s the short video. It’s a constant stream of curiosity-generating content.”
Lauren Berning, a senior ecosystem health major at UMD, is a regular TikTok user who expresses favorable views about the platform. She points out the fact that the app “sheds light on some events that aren’t really covered by the mainstream media,” leading her to do her own research on these underrepresented topics. Berning believes that banning the app would be a negative thing because it’s, “one step down the road to controlling free speech.”
Huy Nguyen, a senior Economics major at UMD holds a different opinion on the subject. Nguyen, originally from Vietnam, a country that was among the first to adopt the app, making it very popular. However, Nguyen has never owned the app and believes that the negatives outweigh the positives. Observing his friends in China using the app, he acknowledges disparities between the Chinese and American versions of TikTok.
“In China, the algorithm only shows you moral stories or good stories that seem to be pushing the young people to actually do work,” Nguyen said. These differences in the quality of content between the versions of the app are a major concern for American lawmakers.
Yaros addresses the concern of distraction that many users struggle with. Through his own research, he has found that “There is a significant number of students who wish they would not spend as much time on TikTok. It’s almost as though they can’t control their own time.” He also mentioned the app being used to spread misinformation stating, “TikTok may be used by certain characters with inappropriate motives of persuading the audience to think a certain way.”
Yaros does not want a TikTok ban, but acknowledges the security risks that the app poses.
“From a societal standpoint, it would definitely be a negative thing. We would have a huge number of users who now feel abandoned,” Yaros said.
If the ban is passed, Yaros hopes that an American will purchase TikTok and it will become a U.S.-based social network. The Senate does not appear to be in a rush to pass the bill, however, if it reaches President Biden’s desk he said he would sign it.
Featured Image by Charlotte Ormond.