The US government has already banned Tik Tok on most government issued devices and has proposed a new bipartisan Senate bill that would give the Biden administration the power to ban Tik Tok in the U.S.  

Research shows that Tik Tok can gather information about demographics and that could possibly be used against Americans.

Freshman Mika Singh thinks social interactions would change in a positive way if the app was banned. “People would probably be nicer and less fake in general because of all the bullying and harmful trends that come from Tik Tok,” she said.

Freshman Mia Tsanany, says it would impact social interactions in a negative way. “We wouldn’t have as many discussions and things to do when we are bored with friends,” she said. 

English teacher Ms. Valverde says that social interaction would not change unless there is a ban on all social media. “You would have to ban all social media in order for there to be an impact,” she said.

Being on a screen for too many hours in a day can affect education and it can affect who we listen to. Freshman Robbie Lee says that “In terms of education it would help and limit false information.”  

It is a concern that information is being stolen from those who use this social media platform. A lot of teens don’t think it is a big concern that the Chinese government could be taking information from the US. 

Singh does not feel threatened but she is concerned. “No I don’t feel threatened personally but in general it’s a little weird that people feel comfortable posting anything without knowing that they are being monitored,” she said. 

Valverde says that she is not worried because someone is always stealing information from us. “I am not worried because someone is always stealing information. It doesn’t necessarily matter if it is the Chinese government or another government,” she said.   

Many question how GenZ will react if Tik Tok gets banned. Tsanany says that Gen Z will fight back, “I think they will [fight back] because it is their main source of entertainment,” she said. 

On the other hand, Singh says that Gen Z will just find alternative sources of entertainment. “I think they will find a way around or make another app to substitute it,” she said.

Like Singh, Valverde says that GenZ will just come up with another app in order to cure their boredom. “I think GenZ tends to create an alternative and they don’t fight and push things,” she said. 

Another debate is if the government should create a time limit in order to limit the amount of screen time teens are intaking.

Singh says that there should be a time limit if there is not a ban. “If they have to put a time limit then that would be helpful but if they can just completely ban it would be better,” she said. 

Lee says having a ban on Tik Tok doesn’t make the concern that the Chinese government could be stealing information go away. “No, there should not be a time limit because then it does nothing to change the possibility that people could be stealing information,” he said. 

Valverde says it would not matter if there is a ban or not because people can still do the things they want in a shorter amount of time. “I don’t think it matters because whatever you are trying to do you can still do that within a time limit,” she said.