Editorial: Ban on TikTok
Social media is an issue ever prominent in society. There has been an extended national movement to Ban Tiktok, a Chinese company owned by ByteDance. This is due to the fact that China can access all of ByteDance’s data, and thus, the data of Americans and any other country worldwide. Thus, it should be banned due to it being a national security threat.
Tiktok is negative for many reasons, it's designed for addiction, with brief videos, simple posting functions, and complex algorithms. Tiktok is easy to access, easy to create videos, and knows exactly what video will entertain one next. It’s a brilliant system, and thus, draws many teens and adults in. China’s direct access to Tiktok means direct access to the data of Tiktok users. Information like addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information could be highly important to China. Data should not be spread to other countries, especially not an evident enemy. China has hailed their relationship with Russia, have flown surveillance balloons over sovereign waters, and supported countries like North Korea. The future of the world is in technology, and given China, American data could be detrimental in the future cyber war.
Tiktok is extremely addicting, more so than other sources of social media. Take Facebook, for an example. Facebook is a site intended for people to connect with friends, acquaintances and family. People aren’t constantly on Facebook, because there’s never anything immediately available. Tiktok has everything. Creating videos is simple, and finding an enjoyable video is simple - scroll down your feed. Facebook has declined in popularity, but Tiktok has spiked. There’s a causality here. Because of how enticing Tiktok is, more people like, and in due course, become more addicted. The addiction is harmful in this case due to lowering productivity. People who are addicted have less of a capacity for mindfulness, and aren’t exactly constantly present. It dilutes the mind; sending the thoughts into the inexorable sweep of Tiktok, or just a void. This state of hypnosis, like many states of addiction, doesn’t even lead to a good mood. Those who go on social media frequently, especially Tiktok, experience depression more and more often. Tiktok short-form media style is attractive, making it more addicting than any other popular social media installation. A survey of Gen Zers has resulted in 48% of survey respondents saying they found Tiktok to be more addictive than any other social media platform. The survey also found Tiktok to be the most entertaining of all the platforms. This makes Tiktok more dangerous than other forms of media.
Tiktok has a broad appeal with young people (classified as those under the age of 34). The younger generation gravitating more and more to the stultifying social media app will be damaging to the future world. Many Gen Zers have become concentrated on Tiktok. How can we trust a social media addicted generation to solve the outlying problems of the world? How can we put a resilient effort to assuage climate change when so many people are addicted to social media? The world is losing its share of intelligence. Social media is depriving Gen Zers of the presence of thought and mental health. Tiktok has more than one billion global users, meaning more than 500 million young people could possibly be tainted with the harmful effects of Tiktok. More than 60% of young people are engaged in Tiktok, meaning they regularly watch it. That’s dangerous.
Social media is designed to be addictive. Sites make money by viewers becoming addicted, which means they could potentially make in-app purchases. These companies benefit from people having a large social media presence. Therefore, making their app addictive is the essential goal.
Social media is a broad network, meaning one can articulate their point of view and have it heard. It also works in the reverse, one may come across another’s onlook of a certain issue. This could be hurtful, scary, offensive, and many other things. The exposure to essentially everything can induce kids making unreasonable comparisons, learning about certain matters too early, or being wounded by another comment. While children should not be protected from the outside world, too much subjection to media and other agendas can be negative. It’s good in moderation. The whole science of addiction worsens sleep quality. Worsening sleep quality influences development heavily. 45% of children are online nearly constantly. The consistent obsession and investment throughout teens will stagnate development. All of this is much worse with Tiktok, because it has become rapidly popular, is still burgeoning, and has algorithms to keep one immersed as long as they possibly can.
ByteDance is a Chinese company. All enterprises operating in China are subjugated to the Chinese government; they have to adhere to the boundaries set by the Chinese Communist Party. Banning this app is sensible, for many other countries have already instituted bans on the app. Of course, no one knows if China will wish to access the data or not; but there’s a certainty they can. The outlying risk is frightening, and only increasing. There is expanding animosity between the US and China. The surveillance balloon signifies Chinese interest in American data and information. America and Russia have a more blatant dislike for each other, they’ve been pitted against each other almost symbolically, America as good and Russia as bad (Darth Vader’s Empire is based off of Russia). China has tied themselves further to Russia. A more conglomerative effort denotes that China wants to acquire American data. If Russia wins on the fighting grounds of Bakhmut, international support will be rallied, most likely from China. This will bind the two countries further. Russia is an enemy. Putin has pronounced that bluntly and vehemently. China, already an unfriendly country, would be considered an enemy if they merge further with Russia. And by that logic, having American teens and adults implementing their Data into Chinese software systems is unreasonable and hazardous.
Even without the threat of China taking American data, there’s still a chance of China using the app as a platform to influence and harm Americans. False information can be so easily spread on Tiktok, pitting Americans against one another. America is already divided. The partisan-oriented government and populace could be instigated against one another to an even greater extent. Tiktok is a platform to exacerbate the ubiquitous American problems.
China could also take advantage of the precarious situation which lingers among the American youth. Aforementioned, the next American generation (current teenagers) are becoming more addicted to social media, losing sleep quality, which is stopping their full development, eroding their mental health and turning them into incapable individuals. This is a serious problem. China could continue to aggravate this, by encouraging ByteDance to increase their algorithm’s power. Even Tiktok remains as it is a problem. Eliminate all potential problems that could arise from Tiktok’s presence in social media. It’s still deleterious. It needs to go away. China has refrained from incorporating Tiktok into their country. They’ve also input social media limits into their society. This is a cognisant move. They are aware that Tiktok and overwhelming investment in the internet is destructive and unwholesome. Seeing how addicted Americans are to these algorithms and entities, China has reeled from Tiktok and other forms of social media. This is ingenious. While Americans are enveloped in Tiktok, becoming more moronic by that second, China is refraining from this while also compounding the problems America possesses.
While Snapchat, Facebook, and other social media have the feed and short video concept Tiktok has, none of them have the same algorithm or utilize that as their core concept. Snapchat’s focus is filters, and connecting with friends. You don’t need friends on Tiktok. One could watch for days on end on Tiktok and have no social interaction. Thus, it distinguishes itself from social media. It doesn't need to be social.
The time is nigh. The addictiveness of Tiktok, the algorithm and constant feed is stultifying our rising generations. The best solution, to ban Tiktok. Tiktok should be banned not only due to its being a security hazard but also as a general threat to the intelligence of young generations. It’s time to log off.