On March 13, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 7521, a bill titled Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.  

It has commonly been called the TikTok ban, as this bill states that if TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is not sold to an American company or shareholders it will be banned in the U.S. 

This type of bill could potentially set a precedent as the U.S. has never banned an app from any U.S. app store. A lot of people are skeptical because it is a shock that the U.S. government is trying to get involved to ban an app from our electronic devices. 

20 VSU students were polled and out of that sample there were varied answers, but when it comes to the question of simply banning the app, all said they were against it. 

“It is a breach of our first amendment because it is limiting our freedom of speech through a social media platform,” said Jerselit Guevera, a 21-year-old criminal justice major. “Getting rid of TikTok would cause a lot of students not to have a way to express themselves.” 

The infringement upon American citizens First Amendment right has constantly been brought up to argue this bill. As a lot of younger people now use it as an unfiltered news source, compared to the early days of the app that was mostly lip syncing and dancing.  

“Personally, I feel like the potential ban itself is a reason to silence our generation and stop us from banding together and voicing our opinions,” said Caleb Davis, a 21-year-old mass media major. “There is more serious stuff that should be focused on like gun control, it is so stupid.”  

Another argument being made by the opposition, is that there are far more pressing day to day issues that Americans are dealing with that got overlooked as the bill passed just days after being introduced. 

“It is just frustrating because there are so many issues like stagnant wages and rent increases that are having Americans living in poverty and on the verge of homelessness,” said Damon Negron, a 20-year-old pre-med biology major. “It just blows my mind that the government got together so quick over an app.” 

While most respondents were vehemently opposed to the potential ban, there were some who were against the ban, but saw hope for the future. 

“Well, I am against the app being banned, but I understand trying to monitor it since it is owned by a Chinese company,” said Ellis Davis, a 20-year-old political science major. “I do think that an American company will be able to buy TikTok or become a shareholder to prevent it from being banned.” 

Written by Serena Hambrick, Staff Reporter.  Photo courtesy of MGN.