Announcement of the TikTok ban

The TikTok ban

Yesterday, January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled the United States government can ban any app for any reason. Today, it was TikTok. Tomorrow, it can be any app, even the ones Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk own.

The United States has stripped people of their rights, property, and livelihood many times before. But the TikTok ban is the first time it has done this to so many people, including people from privileged communities. TikTok had 170 million US users and 22 million small businesses. It enabled artists to be discovered. Corporations built their marketing around it. And there was BookTok that boosted the publishing industry. (An author from my publisher had his book become a bestseller because of a viral TikTok video.) If the Trump Administration were to delay or overturn the ban, it will certainly be with strings attached. TikTok—in fact, any social media platform—will never be the source of free communication and connection ever again.

That freedom made TikTok such an incredible app. It didn’t require extensive knowledge of video production that you need for YouTube. You got in front of your phone and talked, danced, and sung. It was like engaging in a conversation. We also got to see people from different backgrounds and other parts of the world. TikTok also gave us an immediacy and honesty we weren’t getting from the mainstream media. We got news long before we saw it on TV or the web. We saw the courage of Ukraine and the horror of Gaza. That unfiltered view of the world—not data security—was what the government feared. 

Furthermore, as TikTok creator Bimbo University said in her final post, “How can you ban a conversation we’ve already had?” We can’t unknow what we know. And since TikTok will continue in other countries, we know vital conversations are going on about the world that we won’t be a part of. What dangers from climate change to threats of war will we not know about until it’s too late? What crimes is our government committing that are being hidden from us? This ban is more than just denying us silly dances and comedy skits. 

The TikTok ban will radicalize people. It goes against everything we believe this country stood for, including free speech and free enterprise. If a government can deny you access to an app, what other rights can it strip away? You can no longer convince us our government is “of the people, by the people, for the people.” We are more likely to turn to this passage from the Declaration Of Independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.”  

The TikTok ban isn’t the end of the United States, but you can sure see it from here.

UPDATE: I can get back into TikTok, but the damage has already been done. The idea the government can strip you of your rights at any time for any reason it wants is new for a lot of people. So is the idea politicians can manufacture a crisis, fix the crisis it caused, and expect you to be grateful they fixed it so they can mess with you again. It’s a lesson that shouldn’t be forgotten.