According to a recent vote in the House of Representatives, TikTok, a popular video app, must either be sold or banned in America due to concerns about the safety of user information. When you look at the facts, it is clear TikTok should be banned in the United States.
The app has a wide variety of people on it daily, including young children. Children on the app are exposed to an extreme amount of false information.
An example of this was the widespread misinformation about COVID-19 through the app. Hundreds of conspiracies, fake symptoms, and false effects created unnecessary fear. This can be incredibly harmful to anyone and targets young children who are vulnerable and unaware. Being on the app can also allow people, especially younger children, to be exposed to inappropriate content, such as violence and cyberbullying.
As the main audience for TikTok is teenagers, another dangerous impact is how it negatively impacts mental health. Open comment sections create a platform for negativity and bullying. When a person posts a video on TikTok, they run into the risk of facing this negativity. This can cause people to feel insecure in their opinions. Mental health is also at risk because the app is addictive. People spend hours scrolling through videos and losing track of time. This especially harms teenagers who can get sidetracked from their responsibilities.
Another negative facet of TikTok is “cancel culture”. Cancel culture is when people on social media “cancel” a person who posts/says anything that could be out of line. Although cancel culture does call out users who make mistakes, it can also be as dumb as canceling someone for killing a fly. Yes, it is important to call others out when they do something harmful, but people often look for reasons to be upset with anything.
The debate as to whether TikTok should be banned or not has many nuances and complications. While the app provides great entertainment, we must be aware of the consequences, which aren’t limited to false information, addiction, and cancel culture. Besides, we all know Instagram reels are better anyway.
