In April, Congress passed a law banning TikTok due to the perceived national security risks, including fears that it could be used by China to manipulate its users. The recent potential TikTok ban deadline is set for January 19th, and if Byte Dance fails to sell it, the ban will go into effect. Since Byte Dance has already stated its intentions not to sell TikTok, this decision will impact the United States’ 170 million TikTok users-many who are dependent on the app for revenue.
The main misconception regarding the platform is its risk of stoking anti-U.S. sentiments and algorithms pushing Chinese propaganda. A study in 2022 by the Internet Governance Project, concludes that TikTok does not pose a threat to national security because it is a solely economic enterprise; all potential espionage threats are non-unique and a risk for all social media platforms. In addition, the app’s algorithm is independent of the Chinese government and is regulated by an AI model to increase user engagement, not to push any viewpoints onto users.
Historically, TikTok has less media censorship than other privately owned social media platforms such as Facebook where owners are not obliged to follow the First Amendment.
As seen by the large network of pro-Palestinian protesters on TikTok, as opposed to the primarily pro-Israeli media on news platforms, social media platforms tend to advocate for a side often overlooked by the mainstream. Similarly, the recent killing of the UnitedHealthCare CEO was portrayed differently by traditional media and social media platforms such as TikTok.
Traditional media, though frustrated by the inefficiencies and injustices of the status quo health care system, seemed empathetic to the victim of the shooting.
Conversely, social media platforms sympathized with the shooter, Luigi Mangione, and his motive. I believe social media platforms allow users to gain a more “balanced” view of current events, capable of seeing both sides of a current event, and the potential ban on TikTok is thus a threat to free speech.
Though I’m not an avid TikTok user, banning the app on the vague justification of protecting national security with little input from TikTok users seems unjust.

<Ellie Byun c/o 2026 11th Grade, Santiago HS>