The end of TikTok draws near. “On January 19th, as I understand it, we shut down,” TikTok lawyer Noel Francisco told justices during oral arguments on Friday.
The ban comes after ByteDance refused to sell off TikTok to any American business owner. Congress then claimed that ByteDance endangered the nation’s security because it was tracking US user’s data and sharing it with the Chinese government which could manipulate the user’s feed.
The official PAFACA (Protecting America from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) was signed by President Biden in April 2024. This allows the government to ban foreign apps and servers to protect America. With this, America decided to ban TikTok on January 19.
The ban will not erase the app automatically from people’s phones, they simply will remove it from the app store and current users will be faced without updates, similar experiences are possibly being seen in India, which was the first country to ban the app where they will see nothing but notification saying the service is no longer available. According to NPR news “TikTok officials say it is possible that on Jan. 19, when U.S. users try to open the app, a prompt will show up indicating the service is no longer available in the country. This is what happens when someone tries to launch TikTok in India, which banned the app in 2020.”
Students here at Stagg have strong opinions and are definitely against the ban. Senior Lilianna Zuniga said, ¨I hate the TikTok ban, I feel I learned so much on TikTok so it takes away something I get to learn a lot from.¨
She also states her confusion with the ban. “I feel [TikTok]doesn’t really disrespect anybody’s privacy because you don’t have to put any emails or phone numbers.”
Zuniga is not alone in this feeling of frustration, as junior Gabriel Snishen weighs in. ¨I’m disappointed [with the ban], like TikTok is something I’ve used to communicate with friends and it takes that ability to communicate with people.”
Junior Christian Villalobos is more upset because he feels the country has bigger issues to worry about than TikTok. “I think it’s all dumb we have fires in LA and they cut like 50 million [dollars] from the fire department, it’s just we have bigger problems than some dancing app.” Although Villalobos’s number is off the actual number according to the LA officials was 23 million dollars his case still stands.
Villalobos, similarly to Snishen, uses the app as a communication tool where he discusses he’s sad to see his 100-day texting streak a feature that tracks the number of days you converse with someone.
The next thing to answer is where are all these TikTok users heading. Both Zuniga and Snishen are heading to Instagram. “Probably Instagram.” say both students when asked what alternative apps they plan to use.
But when asked the same question, Villalobos was interested in a different alternative.
“I’ve heard of the red app and I might do it.” The “red app” in question is Red Note, also known as Xiaohongshu, a social media app similar to TikTok which is acting as its replacement for some users. Over 300 million users have tried Red Note as a replacement for TikTok since the ban.
Chinese app Xiaohongshu (simplified Chinese: 小红书) has been around since 2013 the app has now become a replacement for TikTok having a 300 million users influx since the official announcement of the TikTok Ban
From the get-go, RedNote starts by asking about your interests, such as sports, arts, music, etc. This is heavily reminiscent of Pinterest with a similar start-up. All without needing any cintact info. On RedNote users are able to view videos and message others. This experience is similar to fellow apps like TikTok and Instagram for example. It can act as a replacement for TikTok as it follows the swipe up and down for videos format that TikTok is quite known for.
The similarity between the two apps is evidently there but the difference is that I see more diversity in the app with multiple languages other than Mandarin and English. I also see a lot more connection between cultures that go beyond the video as people communicate in comments.
But with it being a Chinese app, I feel it will have the same ending as TikTok though as under the PAFACA Act.
With this comes an issue under the PAFACA Act it gives the United states the authority to be judge and jury of foreign apps, if they are seen as a risk of national security.
Does this mean the number one in the app store for free editing app video editor app CapCut, is owned by ByteDance, the same Chinese company that owns TikTok is in danger? The United States is also able to ban Russian and Chinese software in vehicles, according to the Department of Commerce, due to national security concerns. All along the guidelines of the PAFACA Act.
According to CBS News President Trump this morning Sunday, January 19 has vowed to halt the ban on TikTok prompting TikTok to get US servers back online. So those who experience a night with no TikTok were woken up to it return. Though this return duration is unknown given President Trump still has requested the company to sell off the app to US approved buyers.
