Made in 2016, tiktok has continued to stay relevant and make many of the trends in entertainment and pop culture that we still know. However, every year since 2020 TikTok is rumored to be banned by the US government. Consequently the debate of whether TikTok should be banned or not is also brought up every year. While both reasons for keeping or getting rid of TikTok are compelling with good evidence, I believe TikTok should be kept in the United States for multiple reasons. TikTok should be kept due its ability to spread news and educate people about extremely important topics, and for providing jobs to people in multiple ways.
TikTok should stay accessible to people living in the US because of its ability to spread news and educate a large number of people about important topics. Many major news accounts like Daily Mail, New York Times, and many other verified creators help spread accurate news to people who might not have access to news channels or people who aren’t as interested in watching the news and allow them to still be able to learn about important events that are happening currently. TikTok’s feature of verifying specific accounts also allows you to differentiate people that spread real news versus others that might not be as credible. TikTok has also allowed for many important stories to be spread throughout the world. During the heat of the genocide in Palestine and the war in Russia and Ukraine, many people suffering were able to share their experiences on platforms like TikTok and rally support for their cause.
Another important reason for TikTok to stay in the United States is that many of its features provide people with jobs and support small businesses. Due to TikTok having such a high number of users, many influencers and content creators use TikTok as their main source of income by making viral videos and trends, and also can help businesses of all kind increase their audience through making videos. TikTok’s shop feature also allows for users to directly buy items from TikTok and allow other users to make videos to promote things being sold in the TikTok shop, supporting a lot of businesses and content creators.
One could argue that many other platforms like Instagram Reels or Youtube shorts can easily replace Tik Tok and that Tiktok does not have anything special. However, Tiktok’s positive community and commenting restrictions allows for TikTok to be a much safer space for content creators than apps like Instagram Reels. Unlike Tiktok’s positive comments, much of the comments that make up Instagram Reels comment sections are rude remarks, or even things like racial slur, making Tiktok a more comfortable space for people posting them. Some also say that Youtube shorts could replace TikTok, but Youtube Shorts doesn’t have features like TikTok shops that allow small businesses and content creators to make money and sell things, which is a big reason that TikTok is so huge.
Overall, Tiktok is an app that does more than just entertain people and deserves to not be banned. It allows for important news and stories to be spread throughout the United States, and also can support people’s jobs and businesses through its TikTok shop feature that many other apps cannot replicate. Without Tiktok, many years of fun and entertainment on the app go away, as well as the fate of some peoples jobs. Whether TikTok gets banned or not on January 19th, its an important app in many ways and shouldn’t go away.
