The TikTok Ban and Censorship

Many people see this as “the youth” upset and up in arms over another social media app. It's just another addiction ruining children. I’m here to say that maybe that is the case for a few, but not the majority. This is a much bigger issue than just social media. 

Let’s step back for a second to 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, when the entirety of the world stopped, people were stuck at home, unable to socialize, and unable to see friends, family, and strangers. Everyone was looking for any way to make a human connection. To find anything to sustain them, to find a will to continue living, or to find a way to support themselves. What were we to do? We were all having an experience none of us had ever had. People lost jobs, families, friends, homes, and themselves. Now, I know TikTok was around already and a pretty popular app, however, it was at this point that so many people joined it looking for a sliver of happiness, hope, and humanity. 

We seen people who no longer want to live find happiness. We learned things, we danced, and we connected with people, some of who were on the other side of the world. We built a community. Anyone in this country could have joined TikTok at any moment and found someone like them. It made us feel less alone. We could speak our minds, mostly, and say the things we couldn’t say in other places. We could be ourselves or be someone different. We were free to just be. TikTok helped people in ways I have never seen any other form of social media be able to. This isn’t to say that there were no bad sides because there is always going to be something; in my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad.

All of this is to say that people are grieving this loss of community. Yes, there are other apps that we all can socialize on, but nothing can replace the way the connection was created. 

As for the other side of things, the more political side. Why can we, as American people in the “land of the free,” not choose who we give our data to? Yes, the government is supposed to protect its people from harm in that way, but the case was never really about that, was it? Their arguments lacked any support. When other companies, social media among them, exploit, sell, and put our data into the hands of scammers, identity thieves, and foreign entities, why is it that we aren’t allowed to choose to give our data to this one? We all know how cell phone companies were exposed for selling names and phone numbers. At least once a month, I am notified of a data breach from websites I am supposed to trust. So why is this one any different?

I think most of us know why. The ones who get it get it. The ones who don’t just don’t want to see it. This is an infringement on our freedom of speech. TikTok was the one place you could talk about political affiliations without being banned. You could say how you felt about what was happening in our country. You could call out the wrongdoings of the people in power. You could “expose” what was happening. We had a community where we could talk, share, fact-check for ourselves, and see that what we may have been told in school or wherever wasn’t true. I learned far more about true history on TikTok than I ever did in school. I learned about the struggles of Black Americans, African Americans, and people of color from first-hand accounts. I learned things I never would have been exposed to. My eyes were opened to the things that occurred that I would never see because of my privilege. Things could no longer be hidden the way they may have wanted. We became more united and we all know that is the most powerful thing would could ever be. 

I know many think TikTok pushed the divide between people, but I just don’t see it that way. I saw it bring people from completely different backgrounds together and teach about each other's struggles with love and compassion. 

I truly believe this was a significant step in the wrong direction for us as American citizens. Protecting the people is one thing. This is censorship. This represents a serious infringement on our rights and freedom of speech. I still have hope for us as people that we can maintain our rights and push back when necessary, but we need to understand what is truly happening here.