Student Voices

We asked Rio Americano students what they thought of the proposal to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell or face being shut down. Here is what they said:

The concern is for American safety. Freedom of speech can be displayed on other platforms that are safer for US citizens. People use this “concern” as a way to hide the fact of addiction. Refusing to see the true harms of social media to not only oneself but to a country, is dangerous. Many people live off of making content from social media. I think the real reason people are trying to stop the ban is due to their addiction or their worry about trying to find a new substantial job. It’s ridiculous to say that the ban would violate the freedom of speech because that is simply not true. People can express their opinions on the ban as freely as they like. People can still express their feelings publicly, if they feel the need to do so, on other social platforms. 

Kendall Carey, 10

I think taking down the platform definitely does violate free speech. For one, it’s likely the House of Representatives is trying to ban TikTok to stop the spread of political ideas, the most relevant currently being the pro-Palestine content on the app. The worry about Chinese propaganda being spread on TikTok also isn’t very fair as American propaganda can be spread everywhere else by American companies. Getting rid of international companies also lessens competition, so this bill could just be to give companies like Meta more money with less effort. I do think something could be said about the effects of short-form content and how it’s harmful but this is not at all exclusive to TikTok.

Karina Brown, 11

I believe that this ban should not be happening. There are so many other issues in the world that we could be focusing on, and yet we’re here trying to ban a platform that supports everyone and is used widely by people to bring awareness to issues. We are worried about it being owned by China, yet a lot of our materials are from China.

Sam Taddess, 11

TikTok brings with it a lot of bad habits. I personally don’t mind if it’s gone as I don’t use it but I do think students would be barely affected by the change as other apps such as Reels or Spotlight would just take TikTok’s place. 

Holden Prunier, 11

I use TikTok a lot. If it was removed there wouldn’t be much inspiration in this world.

Erin Gibbs, 9

I agree (that banning TikTok) is violating people’s speech rights and harming those who make money because there are so many businesses going on that app that it would basically take someone’s job away. 

Andrew Gross, 12

I think that there needs to be much more hard evidence that TikTok is stealing our data, and even if they are, what are they going to do with the likes and dislikes of millions of teenagers?

Gabe Bond, 11

I believe that they should ban TikTok, but I don’t believe we should resort to throwing China under the bus for the US’ posting, it is a problem that must be solved or people will just get even more addicted to their phones.

Regan Daley, 11

I use TikTok to be happy. Without it, there would not be enough happy people in the world.

Nicole Samms 9

I think if the app is harming US security then it must be banned as soon as possible. If the app’s security can be ensured then there is no need to ban it because some people rely on it to make ends meet.

Lincoln Doway, 11