Editorial: Don't let TikTok be banned

From The Lookout Staff

The U.S. House of Representatives has recently passed the “TikTok ban” bill and we, The Lookout staff, do not approve passing the bill.

It will go into the Senate for a vote as early as Tuesday, April 23. President Joe Biden has said that if the bill reaches his office, he will sign it into law.

This legislation was included with multiple other bills that will send aid to Ukraine and Israel, which is one reason we could be seeing these bills move so quickly.

Luckily, even if the bill does pass, it does not mean TikTok will immediately disappear here in America. Byte Dance, the company that owns TikTok, will have up to a year to sell the platform.

Lawmakers in America say their main concerns with TikTok is the national security threat surrounding the app. In short, because the app is not owned by an American company, our legislators think our information is being stolen and sold to the Chinese government.

Other concerns were voiced during the hearings with TikTok CEO Shou Chew, such as the content shown on the app and what is available to kids.

Ironically, we have apps like Facebook, Instagram and X, which quite literally allows porn on their apps going unaddressed.

Right now, in 2024, we in America have access to the most information ever.

From our perspective at The Lookout, politicians worry about the access TikTok gives us to things happening in America and around the world that we may have never known about.

This makes politicians’ agendas harder to push and lies harder to make believable.

Not only that, but TikTok has been a standout tool for entrepreneurs and business owners to reach their audiences and find success. Other people have made content creation a full-time job due to TikTok.

There have even been politicians who have used the app to build a following and help get them voted into office, yet in old hypocritical politician fashion they voted to ban the very app that helped get them their job.

The politicians who are generations removed from the majority of people who use TikTok in America cannot comprehend the negative impact banning this app will have.