TikTok On The Clock

TikTok takeover is underway. With 1.05 billion active users worldwide, the content is endless and only a click away. From dances to skits to bringing awareness, TikTok is an array of self-expression. With social media, however, comes push back. Discussion of banning TikTok drowns out your usual feed, and opinions are split on whether or not it should happen. Pros and cons line up, and an official decision has yet to be made. 

“Tiktok is a huge basis for some people’s jobs, so if they’re looking at it employment wise, they might not ban the app. It could make a lot of people unemployed,” sophomore Aubrey Thompson said. “Even though it causes a lot of problems, you see a lot that does actually help. There’s people talking about mental illness and health as well as the government and the things that go on in the world. If you think about all of the things you do learn, it can be beneficial.” 

Not including content creators, there are nearly 9,000 employees at TikTok. These jobs would be taken away if the app were to face a ban. Despite this, there are some who believe TikTok shouldn’t stick around. 

“I hope TikTok gets banned from the U.S. Nothing good has come from it and I fully believe it’s a cancer on society,” senior David Carmean said. “If you read the terms of service, it literally says that it can record things like keystrokes and what apps you are using, even while not using the app.” 

Privacy concerns are one of the biggest reasons TikTok is under fire. With belief that personal information is being fed to their databases, there’s also worry about inappropriate content that can be consumed by users. 

“There is a lot of content that some viewers shouldn’t be seeing,” sophomore Angel Rodriguez said. “There’s things like NSFW (inappropriate) videos on there that people sneak onto TikTok, and that’s not what TikTok is for. It’s just for entertainment.” 

Although those kinds of videos can be found, TikTok makes an effort to censor its content. While it keeps inappropriate content at bay, the downside of TikTok censorship is that it has upset people due to TikTok censoring POC creators, LGBTQ+ awareness, and other minorities. 

“I feel like they don’t censor the already popular people, but people trying to build a following might be censored,” Thompson said. “You don’t see a lot of black small accounts, for example, pop up on your For You Page. It’s mainly those with millions and millions of views.” 

There are many reasons people want TikTok gone and reasons they want it to stay. Some find a community on the app and others do not. It’s all about the side you’re on and how you take the content you see.