By Payton Calati
The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bill to make TikTok cut ties with its parent company or be banned in the United States. As of today, 14 countries have banned TikTok on government devices, some even banning all Chinese systems on Federal technology, and two countries have banned the app nationwide.
Over two dozen states have already banned TikTok on their government devices and some colleges have even banned it on their WiFi networks.
On Wed. March 13, the House voted 352-65 to approve the bill that would require ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok, to sell the app. This bill moved on to the Senate where members will soon vote. If approved, it moves on to President Joe Biden.
If the bill wins Senate approval, Biden has indicated that he would sign the bill.
“If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” Biden said to a reporter when asked about legislation according to CBS News.
As America waits for the say of the Senate, citizens who use TikTok impatiently wait for what comes next.
Some students at Grand Rapids Community College feel like banning TikTok could potentially start to affect people’s jobs.
”I think it’s kind of like taking away our personal lives because I know we all spend a lot of time on that app,” said Kensley Krueger. “And it’s some people’s jobs, too, so some people make money. It’s kind of controversial I feel like.”
Concerns about the financial impact of a TikTok ban are shared by Aaron Wheeler.
“…Creators on TikTok who use TikTok for their income probably will take a pretty big dip if it gets banned,” said Wheeler.
Other students are more upset about their source of entertainment being taken from them.
“(The ban) will affect my entertainment. There’s a lot of funny stuff on there that I won’t be able to laugh at anymore,” said Lean Ramsey.
Anthony Kilne feels like removing TikTok would decompress people’s expressions.
“I feel like it’s a terrible idea in general. It’s a way for people to express their feelings… or make a business out of it,” said Kilne.
Elliot Mooney, 18 of Grand Rapids, said that they find information on the app in a different way than they would on news stations.
“Tiktok has enlightened me and a lot of other younger people about issues around the world. People will say things that the news won’t,” said Mooney.
As students are becoming more upset about this potential ban, they are wondering why the government is going after TikTok when other problems need to be solved.
“I feel like the government is more focused on banning TikTok than actual political issues,” Mooney said.
“I don’t feel like it’s a security threat in any way, because what’s there really to be more secure about on TikTok?” said Kilne.
While some students don’t see a reason to ban the app, Magdalene Moreno, 18 of Grand Rapids, does not use TikTok and is all for the ban.
“It does more harm than good,” Mareno said.
As of right now, there is no notice when the Senate will be discussing the bill to ban TikTok.
“We do things slowly over here, and this takes time,” Cornyn said to a reporter at NBC News.
