By: Emily Ao

After many people in the West have expressed concerns on how Tiktok could be leaking sensitive user data, President Joe Biden passed a new law demanding Tiktok’s parent company to hand over their ownership. Tiktok users have been quite trained to respond to these events however, as this is not the first time that Tiktok has been under fire for supposedly selling private data. However, what they don’t know is that this time, things are getting serious.

According to the New York Times article, “Why the U.S. Is Forcing Tiktok To Be Sold or Banned,” Tiktok and ByteDance, its parent company, have long denied selling users’ private information to China. Tiktok’s capabilities are being debated because misinformation is a powerful way to spread propaganda on important topics like wars and other ongoing conflicts. With social media use rising day by day and many people feeding off of it, misinformation and miscommunication can do a lot of harm in the long run.

This potential ban is not a new occurrence. In the past, countries like India have banned Tiktok and other Chinese-owned apps like the social messaging app, WeChat. With more and more countries becoming aware of the possible security concerns of data leakage on the black market, many more are becoming wary of Tiktok and its services offered to worldwide users.

The important idea to note is, if it does get banned, many people who rely on Tiktok as a living will be affected. Tiktok has been a convenient way for content creators and influencers to make money from the comfort of their own homes, and banning it could lead to potential financial crises in America. Despite ongoing conflicts that may take years to solve, Tiktok still remains on our devices, for now.