TikTok Should Be Banned, But Not Because of China

TikTok is one of the many platforms that prey upon addiction in order to fill the pockets of an elite group. Banning the platform won’t solve social media addiction, but we must be willing to confront our addiction as a nation. Seeking the ban of one major platform as a result of its harmful effects could set a precedent for others.

The pursuit of this ban originated from an executive order issued in the summer of 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. According to the official Supreme Court documentation, “President Trump determined that TikTok raised particular concerns, noting that the platform automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users and is susceptible to being used to further the interests of the Chinese Government.”

According to an NPR article published on Jan. 19 — the day of the ban — TikTok was blocked in the U.S. for 14 hours. Trump quickly enacted an executive order to delay the ban for 75 days after taking office on Jan. 20, according to the BBC. However, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains in question.

Ironically, the dangers of data mining by a foreign entity is the focus of this executive order, when the bigger concern should be for the mental health of future generations. Social media is leading to massive mental health crises, according to a 2024 study published in Industrial Psychiatry Journal. This study connected adolescent social media usage to higher rates of social anxiety, depression, loneliness, eating disorders, self-esteem issues, poor life satisfaction, reduced sleep quality and higher perceived stress. This laundry list of potential impacts should concern everyone.

Beyond the individual impacts, social media often brings out our tribal tendencies in the worst ways. While many claim to avoid it, conflict is an adrenaline high that is often fanned online. The algorithms presented on social media platforms encourage political divides based on the social networks individuals possess coming into them, according to a Dec. 2024 article in the Applied Network Science journal. Finding a middle ground or just a reasonable person online seems almost impossible. In the current political climate, we often spend more time yelling at each other instead of discussing how to work together.

Students across campus have varying perspectives on the impact that TikTok’s potential second — and more permanent — ban in the U.S. could have on political divisions.

“I don’t use TikTok because it’s too distracting,” said nursing student Annika Jeske. “It divides the political environment by showing people different and polarizing stuff. I don’t think banning it would help because Instagram reels still exists.”

Accounting student Riley Isaac said, “I don’t use TikTok personally, just because I think it’s a super addictive app and not good for, like, mental health. But I do think that it doesn’t create any more of a political divide. It’s just another platform for people to express their own thoughts, and I don’t think banning it would benefit anyone. I know a lot of people depend on it financially, and there’s no good reason for the ban.”

I had the privilege of spending most of my early childhood roaming freely in the suburbia of Ohio and on a farm in the middle of nowhere Idaho. These early memories developed much of the curiosity and creativity I now possess. When I couldn’t be outside, I would turn to painting with my parents or reading an unholy number of books. Many of the children being raised today spend most of their free time just like us adults — online. This coming generation of late Gen Z through Gen Alpha students is not only deprived of the enriching childhoods many of us were granted, but they are also subjected to highly addictive platforms that we didn’t join until our teen or adult years.

My fellow opinion writer Nathan Mayville recently said that he believes iPhones and social media will eventually be viewed in the same way as smoking is now. We will be horrified that children were ever given access to it and that it was promoted in any capacity. As one of the many addicted, I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment.

The executive order from the 2020 Trump administration suggested that the greatest risk to the American peoples’ health is foreign influence whilst we are marching our nations’ mental health towards an impending cliff. A complete ban on social media platforms is unrealistic. However, at the bare minimum, we must consider enforcing laws on age restrictions. We adults can decide what addictions we will justify, but children cannot. We can see this potential ban as an opportunity to confront our addictions and seek a better future for the coming generations. Pursuing a ban on TikTok for the right reasons, not to heighten tensions with Eastern powers but to recover our dwindling cognitive potential, will allow us to make a real impact within our society.