TikTok users better prepare for the worst, as the app’s service will be “forced to go dark on January 19,” according to an official statement. Yet, there is a speck of hope: the Biden Administration needs to provide a “definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement” as soon as possible. However, the service will see its termination in the US if this doesn’t happen by Sunday.
Per BBC, TikTok user Erika Thompson says that society “will certainly feel” a massive loss in terms of the “educational content or informative content” if the app goes down. Around 170 million people in America use TikTok, and they will lose access to a platform where it’s possible to “find success overnight,” says TikTok creator Ross Smith.
Many alternatives exist, but ByteDance’s social media platform giant has remained the public’s top choice for years. With the app’s now-impending doom, “TikTok refugees” are finding their way to a new Chinese-owned app — RedNote. Many might be making this move out of spite, as the language-learning app Duolingo has seen a massive spike in its Chinese learner user count in the US.
Naturally, those who don’t use the app or are initially biased against it don’t see the service “going dark” as a problem. “Could be a great thing,” states a hopeful commenter. “Life before TikTok was pretty good and wasn’t as controversial with all the ridiculous posts.” Countless users follow up on the top comment with remarks like “Who cares,” “Bye-bye,” and “Good riddance.” On the other hand, some see this upcoming ban as a violation of the public’s freedom.
“Banning the app only protects the government, not the people,” cries out a concerned commenter. “It is absolutely censorship and should be stopped! ‘We The People’ have a right to speak out!” Another user chimes in with, “This is just the beginning of GOP censorship.” For clarification, GOP stands for Grand Old Party, another name for the Republican Party. That said, many citizens are collectively concerned that this is the start of the US government censoring more media now that Donald Trump has been reelected.
Whatever the case, the deadline for TikTok to sell its US stake is coming up very soon, and if ByteDance is unable to find a solution to this problem, Americans won’t have much of a choice but to move on to another app.
