The End of TikTok?
More than 170 million users all across America are facing a threat toward the popular social media app Tik-Tok.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to uphold a law that bans TikTok in the U.S. over national security concerns unless its China-based parent company sells the platform before January 19th. This decision was made with the U.S. governmental concerns on whether the app could be a Chinese tool for spying and manipulation.
During the court hearing, several lawyers present gave testimonies arguing for either side. Pro-Tik-Tok ban justice department lawyer Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the court that ByteDance (The company that runs Tik-Tok) has ties to the Chinese government that makes it a national security risk.
She told the court that Beijing "could weaponise TikTok at any time to harm the United States.”
The main argument made by the lawyers that are against the ban is that it would
violate the freedom of speech of millions of Americans–a point that was clearly made during the hearing.
Jacob Hubert, a lawyer and the president of the Liberty Justice Center–which represents BASED Politics, an internet content creator–said it was still difficult to predict how the court would rule, before restating the sentiment shared by the anti-ban lawyers, “It's not about China's rights, or the communist party's rights, It is about the rights of Americans who use TikTok to, largely, speak with other Americans."
Another popular argument advocating against the ban of Tik-Tok is that the app is many people's livelihood. It has the power to destroy businesses and run them into financial ruin if taken away.
Many influential content creators within the U.S. have agreed with this, though they still find themselves in the same position as everyone else, which is to wait and see if Tik-Tok will finally meet its end in America.