TikTok underwent a 14-hour ban in the U.S. on January 19, 2025. MV students shared many different opinions about whether TikTok should have been banned, and if the app should have been taken down.
Most students believe that TikTok should not have been banned.
“I do not think that TikTok should have been banned. When the little sticker thing from TikTok popped up I was so upset, and I kept accidentally clicking on the app even after it was ‘banned’,” said Sophia Baumhoegger, ‘28.
“No, I love TikTok too much. It felt like my whole camera roll got deleted,” stated Katerina Webber, ‘28.
There have been several events where the proposal of TikTok being banned has been considered.
Since it has been brought up before, some students were not completely convinced that TikTok was going to be banned.
According to the New York Times, “Concerns that the Chinese government could manipulate content and gain access to sensitive user data through the app, which is owned by ByteDance, prompted Congress to pass legislation to ban the social media platform unless it was sold to a government-approved buyer.”
“ I don’t think it will ever be banned because it makes people money and that’s a driving force that’s hard to slow/stop,” said Mrs. Taryn Zapp, Communication Arts.
“At first I didn’t take the ban seriously because of all of the previous rumors, but then I got convinced when TikTok started giving me notifications about the ban,” said Webber.
While TikTok has been unbanned, it is still not available in the app store.
This has caused many people to regret deleting the app from their phones before the ban.
“I feel bad for the people who deleted it when it got banned because they can no longer download it, but it doesn’t affect me personally because I didn’t delete it,” said Webber.
The Supreme Court approved the ban, but the ban was only in action for around 14 hours.
There are many opinions surrounding the Supreme Court’s reasons for banning it.
“I do understand that they were just trying to protect the United States, but I don’t think banning TikTok was going to do anything. There are a lot of apps and websites that we use that are Chinese based like Temu or Shein,” stated Baumhoegger.
Some believe that TikTok is very beneficial and that it is good for people, especially students, to have TikTok.
“ I think TikTok is beneficial because of everything you can learn from it. There are so many recipes and new ways to try things. TikTok has something for everyone no matter what you like, so anybody can use it,” said Baumhoegger.
On the other hand, others believe that TikTok is not beneficial.
“TikTok is for one, a time suck. It is also a distraction and takes people away from real and true interactions. People need to interact with each other to feel true humanity and human connection. I think we lose empathy for people when we don’t take the time to build relationships,” said Mrs. Zapp.
Teachers also have different opinions on whether it would be better or worse if students didn’t have TikTok.
“I think students would spend more time having actual conversations and doing activities with others. They would not be consumed with doom-scrolling for hours on end,” said Mrs.Zapp.
“I do not think that the time that students spend on TikTok is healthy,” stated Mrs. Hannah Finney, Science.
Students’ work ethic and overall effort in school have varied since TikTok has become more popular.
Mrs. Zapp said, “I think apps like TikTok get students to put a lot of value in what they can get out into the world and cause some to think that they are ‘main characters’ because it seems like they are constantly being observed. It’s not a healthy way to live.”
“ The addictiveness seems to also make some students feel like they need to constantly be on it, which can lead to distraction and less engagement in schoolwork. I do believe it has had an impact,” continued Mrs. Zapp.
“I feel like last year it was worse, but that could be different for other teachers,” said Mrs. Finney.
