TikTok Enables the American Dream: Why a Ban Would Be a Giant Misstep (Opinion)

They’re trying to ban TikTok again. This past week, the U.S. House voted yes on legislation to ban TikTok or force a sale, even though 73% of TikTok’s daily users oppose it, according to a new poll by NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Associated Press.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been threatened with a ban. In 2020, President Donald Trump spearheaded efforts with an executive order. I didn’t believe it would happen, but it would have been devastating for me back then if Trump had successfully banned the short-form video app for American users.

Like many others, I started regularly using and posting on TikTok during the pandemic. As a travel journalist, I was out of work and had plenty of time on my hands. TikTok’s famously intuitive algorithm quickly hooked me with fluffy cats, cooking demos, and Asian American news. As a former creator from the Myspace era, I felt much more aligned with TikTok as a social media platform than the highly curated aesthetics of the Instagram feed. For me, TikTok focused more on subject matter than phoniness, favoring real, unpolished content.

Over the next few months, I posted on the platform three times daily as recommended, finding a niche resonating with users: nostalgic content about Asian Americans in the early aughts. Besides the entertainment value, community building, and highlighting underrepresented voices, TikTok allowed countless creators to quickly launch full-time careers.

My following eventually grew to half a million followers, and I signed a book deal with my dream publisher because of TikTok. This wouldn't have happened if Trump had successfully banned the social media platform in 2020. TikTok changed my life.

Fast forward to today, I’m finished writing the first draft of my book and no longer have time to sign onto TikTok anymore. I only log on a few times a week and am disenchanted that it’s become a Gen-Z version of the Home Shopping Network. I would be disappointed if TikTok was banned today. I have far more followers there than any social media platform, but I would no longer be devastated. However, the ban would be catastrophic for millions of creators and businesses financially dependent on the platform for exposure. These people couldn’t simply move to another social media platform. TikTok’s innovative algorithm and “For You” page funnel new content to audiences, promoting visibility in a way other platforms don’t offer.

I’m against the TikTok ban, but it’s not about my personal opinion. There’s the First Amendment and the principles our country is built on. Two out of three teenagers and over 150 million Americans use TikTok, and the ban would silence many of their voices while blocking the free spread of information. The ban would also be extremely difficult to put into practice. Montana tried to ban TikTok last year, but a federal judge ruled against it, citing the First Amendment and free speech. A TikTok ban would be alarming, an authoritarian move with terrifying Orwellian vibes. It would make us no different from China, which bans many U.S. social media platforms such as Meta, Google, and YouTube.

Proponents of the bill claim they support the ban to protect American user’s online data. After all, ByteDance is a Chinese company that would be forced to comply if the Chinese government ordered them to hand over user data. However, there’s no irrefutable proof that they've done so. Besides, China can already easily purchase an infinite amount of Americans’ private data from nefarious data brokers.

I’m all for regulation and oversight. Lawmakers and activists have already pointed out that a data privacy law protecting the misuse of this data — collected by countless apps and other social media platforms selling it to third parties — would be far more helpful than a ban. The focus on banning a single app without data collection and consumer privacy regulation is a pointless exercise that will be almost impossible to legislate.

I’m against the TikTok ban because it's unconstitutional and possibly xenophobic. The platform hands the microphone to underrepresented creators like myself, who may now be silenced. If TikTok didn’t exist, would Filipino American singer Bella Poarch have gone viral and signed to Warner Records? Would Who TF Did I Marry? creator Reesa Teesa have signed to CAA? Would Alex Aster’s Lightlark have been on the New York Times Bestseller list for a year? Doubtful. TikTok represents the American Dream for us.

This ban would be a giant step in the wrong direction, especially at a time when real issues are at hand: book bans, women’s loss of bodily autonomy, school shootings, and climate change.