By: Kyle Xu

Long has the rivalry between the United States and China existed, and the U.S. government is working to untie bonds with China in every way they can.

Paranoid that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance can access massive amounts of sensitive user data and turn them in to the Chinese government, President Biden recently signed legislation that states that TikTok has a year to break up with the Chinese company ByteDance. This was a result from the complaints of lawmakers and regulators, who have expressed the possibility of China’s communist government controlling ByteDance from afar, and thus TikTok.

Alongside being a dance, recipe, and funny home video platform, TikTok is a news app, and many government officials are afraid that China could regulate TikTok’s content recommendations to inspire misinformation, which could prove dangerous to the stability of the U.S. during the Israel-Hamas war and the presidential election coming up in a couple of months. Some even say that TikTok has already contributed to the Israel-Hamas war by encouraging antisemitism. The growing pressure on TikTok has already forced TikTok to try to distance itself from ByteDance.

Legal actions take a long time to come into effect, and TikTok usage will gradually be waned until it is completely banned or sold. It’s difficult to remove an app from a privately-owned phone, but tech companies such as Apple have the ability to block downloads of apps. Professor Justin Cappos of the New York University Tandon School of Engineering states that those companies also have the ability to remove apps that were previously installed. As an American, you can aid these acts by protecting your data on TikTok. This can be done by specifying that you do not give the app permission to access your location or contacts. It’s also possible to scroll through TikTok without actually having an account.

However, legal glitches still dot the legislation. For example, President Biden had used TikTok to aid in his recent 2024 presidential campaign, although his administration had not supported TikTok since 2023. This information brings up many questions about the true intentions of the government, such as whether they are truly trying to protect citizens.

TikTok is experiencing pressure from more than 30 states who have joined the federal government against TikTok. Still, TikTok is digging in its heels, also stating that the legislation violated the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Tiktok even demeaned the government in saying that the bans were “political theater” and stating that lawmakers were trying to control Americans.

Although TikTok is declining, the media app will still be available in the U.S. for now. Banning an app is difficult and will take a while to be in effect. App stores like Apple and Google will be restricted from updating or selling TikTok. Potential(government-approved) companies have already publicly stated intentions to buy TikTok, and now that the United States has started to restrict the digital rights of the public, citizens will surely wonder if the United States is no longer promoting freedom or digital rights. This brings up the idea that the United States may truly be no better than its enemies.