TikTok, a social media platform, has become a daily habit for Americans. About 100 million Americans are active users of the app. The app first began as a platform where users would upload dance and lip singing videos. The content now ranges from informational, entertainment, lifestyle, etc.

Tiktok has become an outlet where people speak on current events and discuss their opinion with one another. Politicians have banned TikTok from government issued phones and aim to ban TikTok in the United States due to national security concerns. Politicians are claiming that TikTok, the chinese owned app, could be mishandling users information and allowing China to access U.S. users data.

If China obtaining data of users from the U.S. then other apps such as Instagram and Facebook should be looked into being banned. Facebook runs an office in Shanghai and has Chinese connections. Shou Chew, the TikTok CEO, has gone before congress to prevent a ban on his app. Many TikTok users are against the notion of banning TikTok because it has transformed into more than just an entertainment platform and they feel the government is going against our first amendment rights.

Users have shared that TikTok has helped them in many ways such as jump starting their side jobs into businesses and saving their businesses from closing down. Without TikTok, people wouldn’t be able to inform themselves as much as they do with the app.

The TikTok CEO claims they are working to better the app and make it safer for users. They have taken measures such as making accounts for users under 18 private by default. That will allow users to accept only the people they wish to have on their account. It also has a restrictive mode for videos which doesn’t allow inappropriate content on the app. CEO Shou Chew had given the US an option of even bringing its data and even top secret information under Oracle, an American company under the name “Project Texas.” “The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel,” said Shou Chew. “This eliminates the concern that some of you have shared with me that TikTok user data can be subject to Chinese law.”

TikTok has recently developed a screen time which allows user over to set their own daily screen time and it will notify users when that time has been reached. For users thirteen through seventeen, an automatic daily screen time of an hour will be set and users will be notified and will be given the option to continue within the app or exit. TikTok assures the community that they will continue to improve the app to make it more secure and safe for users. They also assure that they will continue to work on keeping user data safe and inaccessible from a third party.