It is widely known that a number of popular social media platforms today are banned in China and you wouldn't expect the same sort of behavior to pop up in the US for censorship online would you? But recently a bill has been introduced to ban TikTok in the country, taking things even further after efforts which have already been made in recent years to ban individuals with government issued devices in some circumstances from using the app.

There are some who would be happy to see it more heavily regulated and restricted.

The reason? They want to safeguard user data.

"for safety"

Are these the same users though who have had their privacy allegedly violated through Patriot Act and other controversial legislation that has encroached upon individual liberties for years now in the US? Why aren't those policies getting the same attention from politicians as TikTok?

Those who seek to infringe upon freedom and individual liberty will always have a reason and most often that reason is unsurprisingly the safety of the individual themselves or others.

If this restriction were to extend further to average consumers you could expect them to perhaps similarly argue that they want to take the responsibility of protecting users without allowing users to make that distinction for themselves. Will we see it extend further in the market? It looks like the bans have been growing and being accepted in more areas.

Past Pew Research has shown that around a quarter of US adults under 30 were getting their news from TikTok regularly, it also looks like there are tens of millions of Americans who have been using it regularly.

Along with other platforms like SnapChat and Instagram, TikTok popularity has been growing and that is because consumers have been deciding on their own that they want to use it and reap value from it.

Some social media platforms that were popular 15 years ago aren't heard of much these days, trends adapt and change and it's clear that TikTok has been drastically rising in popularity with many. Several states around the country have already outlawed employees in certain circumstances from downloading the using the app on their state-owned devices. Will they be able to take things further? How much longer are people going to insist on being in the business of telling others where they should get their news from as well?

Pics:
pixabay
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63965553
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/
https://news.sky.com/story/tiktok-would-the-us-really-ban-one-of-the-worlds-most-popular-apps-12767822