On Jan. 19 2025, the law banning TikTok went into effect. This new change left millions feeling upset and angry at the president, but others were extremely happy and agreed with the Biden Administration.
But then, all of a sudden, 12 hours later, TikTok came back as president trump issued an order on Monday aiming to halt enforcement of a ban on Tiktok in the United States for 75 days. This left the world shocked.
Personally, I do not have TikTok, so when people have talked about it in the past, I’ve never engaged in those conversations. But it was not until recently that I had a bit of an opinion on this topic.
For me, I feel like this ban is good, especially for teens. This is because teens spend lots of time scrolling through this app as this makes them feel really good on the inside, but what feels like fifteen minutes is really four hours. This leads to a significant increase in procrastination.
Also, this ban could really help teens with their time management skills. Sometimes, on school nights, they do not feel like doing their homework and instead scroll and watch TikToks. As they scroll for hours, they forget all about their assignments and assessments and are left unprepared for class the next day.
Another important thing that is going to help teens without TikTok is less cyberbullying. Most teens have been cyberbullied on TikTok in the past, and if TikTok is not banned, the numbers of reported cyberbullying are going to keep spiking.
Something else helpful with TikTok being banned is that there is more privacy for some teens. For me, last year, there were pictures of me taken and posted without my permission, and were left there for everyone to see, and I bet there are still people out there with that issue. So, if TikTok is banned, the victims of the photos will not have to feel like their life is out there for people to see.
Lastly, TikTok, especially for teens, opens them to internet strangers, by talking with people who they might not know and exposing them to topics such as war and drugs which is completely inappropriate for them.
But TikTok is not fully terrible for adults , there are some good sides to TikTok. One of them is that people have freedom of speech on TikTok, as they get to express themselves and connect with other people who have the same opinion as them.
Another thing is that some people have jobs on TikTok, so if TikTok is banned, they will lose their job and can’t make money which is not good. So TikTok needs to stay for those people whose job revolves around TikTok.
Also, TikTok allows people to try new things. For example, there are TikTok influencers who love to inspire people with cooking. They can help people learn to cook, try new recipes and help them discover a new hobby .
Also lots of small clothing and accessory brands promote themselves on TikTok, so people can find new brands of clothing they would like to try out and see if they would buy from them again or not.
Another thing that is good is that there are parental controls on TikTok. This is so important because parents can set time limits and restrict the content kids watch so that they do not get into something inappropriate.
The next popular app that might replace TikTok is maybe YouTube Shorts, as it’s basically the same as TikTok, but there are more kid-friendly videos. But, a new app is starting to rise and may replace TikTok. It is called Little Red Book. It is basically the same as TikTok.
Although TikTok is back, there needs to be more restrictions, especially for teens on the app. These changes can lead to a safer user experience and overall happiness for everyone.