With the TikTok ban deadline approaching, students at Grand Rapids Community College have strong opinions about losing access to the beloved app.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law that gave TikTok and the Chinese company that owns it, ByteDance, a year to sell to an American company. This Sunday is when the law is expected to go into effect.
“They can’t take TikTok away from me,” said 18-year-old Genesis Brown. “I’ve learned a lot on Tiktok.”
Brown then went on to say she learned everything from “life-hacks” to information about ongoing court cases on the platform, as well as how to cook recipes.
Rosario Escobar, a nursing major from Grand Rapids, said she not only gets recipes from TikTok, but also news.
“I don’t watch the news. So, if there’s something happening globally, that’s the only way I find out,” she said.
With over 170 million Americans on TikTok, some members of Congress believe the app is a national security threat that allegedly allows American data to be shared with the Chinese government– GRCC students disagree.
Elix Fitzpatrick, 21, thinks national security should not be the main concern for our country.
“I think that this is not the best thing for them to make a stand on at this time. I think that there are a lot more things that the government could be focused on, rather than a social media site,” she said.
Additionally, Nicholas Lukey, a 26-year-old Army veteran, said with his army background, it’s hard for him to believe the government is really concerned about national security.
Grand Rapids native, Gavin Law agrees.
“The main reason that a lot of government officials are looking into this ban is because they’re worried about spies and hacking from the Chinese government, but I’ve seen a lot of outpouring of rebellion against this,” Law said. “It just kind of seems like a counterproductive play that’s kind of making this fissure between a lot of younger people and a lot of people who are in charge of running things.”
Of all the students The Collegiate surveyed on Jan. 15, none were in favor of banning TikTok.
With that, 23-year-old Pre-Business-Major, Joash Masuke, has a message for Congress.
“Please if this message goes out to them, if they get it, they should reconsider the decision they’ve made.”
Collegiate Reporters Grace Howard, Rosalia Jimenez, Bianca Bower and Mackenzie Davis contributed to this article.
