TikTok could face a total ban in the United States after years of government resistance. Users and creators alike were shocked to lose their favorite apps. Among them is model and author Emily Ratajkowski, who has a large following on TikTok and has shared her thoughts on why the app could pose such a threat to the country’s officials .
Ratajkowski responded to TikTok and its 2.7 million followers after the House on Thursday passed a bill that could ban it nationwide, saying TikTok has become a center for politics and activism. Important to many users, but may also pose a threat to a higher power.
“Because this is one of the few platforms that is not controlled entirely by the U.S. government, or through companies that have U.S. government interests in mind, progressive politics is able to work on it,” Ratajkovsky said in the video. It’s thriving here.”
“TikTok is banned,” she continued, “because the U.S. government is rightfully afraid of its impact on the American people and the general public, and that to me shows that TikTok is a very powerful organizing tool for alternative thinking, and Activism.”
American Civil Liberties Union warns against proposing TikTok ban because it violates First Amendment
Ratajkovsky also said that while lawmakers believe the app poses a national security threat due to its Chinese parent company ByteDance, TikTok’s data collection could be considered similar to that of U.S. companies like Meta or Apple. no difference. While Meta says “we won’t sell your information,” we all know how that works—government authorities like law enforcement are constantly making (and getting approved) requests for your information. Likewise, Apple said it would only hand over data “when probable cause arises or the customer consents” under the law and search warrants. But it’s clear that despite the safeguards implemented by tech giants themselves, user data has been exploited by governments before.
Ratajkovsky’s larger argument echoes concerns that many users — especially young people — are having right now. A ban on TikTok could have ripple effects on brands, businesses and individuals who have built legacies on the platform over the years. Likewise, the prospect of losing TikTok is both personal and political for the many people who use the app to learn, inspire, and organize about underdiscussed and suppressed issues people face.
As the war in Gaza escalates, so does the moral panic surrounding TikTok. In the final months of 2023, several lawmakers, celebrities, and creators accused TikTok of promoting “pro-Palestinian” content. The criticism led TikTok to issue its own statement about the overwhelming support for Palestine shown on the app, which had little to do with TikTok’s algorithm: “Data shows this support is not new and is not new on TikTok It was rising before it was created, so it’s unrealistic to attribute such a broad range of sentiment to a single communication channel like TikTok.”
It would be wrong to say that TikTok does not suffer from the same problem. On the one hand, its aggressive push into shopping and consumer culture has frustrated users. The app has a comprehensive library of themes, some of which promote ancient values and ideals of culture. Of course, these pockets exist on TikTok, a place where online communities tend to get attention. Admittedly, TikTok also suffers from a misinformation problem that most social media platforms have struggled to contain.
But the app opens up conversations that others might miss or consider more complex. Meta has been limiting news coverage, starting with blocking news on Instagram and Facebook in Canada, and more recently announcing that political posts would no longer be easier to post on its platform ahead of global elections. Next month, Meta will drop Facebook News entirely in the U.S. and Australia. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X) has led to a flood of disinformation and hate speech across disciplines.
It’s no surprise that young people and politically active people are turning to TikTok. The app takes up a lot of the digital space of such users, who use TikTok as a search engine and a more comprehensive source of news.As Sophia Smith Galer writes for Mashable, “TikTok also reaches 20% of 18-24 year olds Across the global market Exclusively for news. “
According to Ratajkovsky (and presumably millions of others), “We should be very, very afraid.”
