At the Supreme Court early Friday morning, a decision was made: TikTok will be banned across the country.
In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld legislators' ban on TikTok, leaving both consumers and creators wondering what the future of social media will look like.
“Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts will skyrocket, for sure... But I also think a lot of people don't like Reels and Shorts,” said Jonah Johnson, a sophomore commercial voice major.
In April 2024, President Joe Biden officially signed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” also known as H.R. 7521.
The bill, passed with a bipartisan majority, requiring any technological applications controlled by “foreign adversaries” to cease operations within the United States.
Eva Campos, a senior public relations major, like others, fears the intervention of the government at this scale and how it infringes on what it means to be American.
“What upsets me the most is that I do feel like it's a slight breach of our free speech and just liberty to share with each other on the internet. I think it's very strange,” Campos said.
The decision came as a shock to some as the app has amassed a user total of over 170 million in the United States alone, according to TikTok.
With the social media mogul forced to close its American servers by Sunday, some users are already flocking to apps that have built features inspired by TikTok's success.
While these alternatives are already built for short-form content, Americans haven’t connected with them in the same way they have with Chinese-based apps.
“TikTok knows exactly how to tailor it to each person... and they really push the algorithm... which is why I think it's so addictive,” Johnson said.
Even with American-owned social media companies that already have the infrastructure to host content at this scale, some view their decision to move to another app as an act of protest against the American government, especially when it’s based in the same country that is now causing concern.
RedNote, a Chinese-based company with many of the same features that made TikTok the successful, has exploded onto the scene in the last week as the shutdown of TikTok looms.
“It's kind of an act of defiance to use an app from the same country that our president-elect is trying to make out to be a villain,” said Campos.
Even with public backlash and outcry from users across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision, acknowledging the negative effect the loss of the platform will cause.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns,” the U.S. Supreme Court said in its decision.
Despite the ban moving forward, president elect Donald Trump told NBC that he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day extension as soon as he is inaugurated on Monday leaving the future of the app unclear.
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This article was written by Zach Watkins