Why Tiktok should not be Banned

Introduction

TikTok was founded in 2012, and it quickly became a social media sensation. This platform has inbuilt capabilities to make active shifts and has spiraled as the fastest-growing micro-video platform in over 150 markets. In 2020, TikTok had been downloaded over 2 billion times on both the App Store and Google Play, making it the world’s leading free non-gaming app. Currently, it is accessible in over 75 languages, attracting millions of people every month. TikTok is known for its video clips ranging from fifteen seconds to a minute.

TikTok’s 'For You' page - also known as the ‘FYP’ - acts as an infinite entertainment feed showcasing an extensive range of sounds or trending topics. These videos are accompanied by a specific sound or music track and are generally humorous, educational, or family-oriented, as well as insightful. The application subtly pinpoints users’ likes, needs, preferences, and lifestyle details, along with their overall experience of content consumption. This concept indicates the platform's reach to every nook and corner, catering to multiple demographics and redefining modern communication habits. Today, TikTok has empowered any user to ascend the ranks of content creators, inviting hobbyists, housewives, and even professionals to showcase their filmography skills and expressions since everyone stands equal on TikTok.

The Positive Impacts of TikTok

TikTok has become popular in many Western countries for good reason. While we know the platform to be home to several shenanigans, TikTok provides a unique platform that champions creativity. From animation to music, stand-up comedy to beauty vlogging, TikTok has something for everyone – and unexpectedly for most, an avenue for social advocacy.

People from all walks of life use TikTok as a creator space to showcase their own unique talents and ideas – from opera singing to concerts, to spreading beauty tips for the very same mastectomy scars they hide every day. TikTok has, in a very short four years, become such a dominant force in global pop culture. The platform has also been used as an effective vehicle for getting plenty of social movements off the ground, which was really something to witness. TikTok provides a simple 'show, don’t tell' function that makes it easier than ever before to create your own content, and other people really agree that’s cool; I definitely do. The platform has equal potential to frustrate and uplift, and in my humble opinion, it needs to come back.

One of the other things that really stands out as more than enough reason to keep the app is its consistently invaluable role in keeping people’s mental health in check. The platform ensures that content that reaches large audiences has no undue nudity or sexual content that hasn’t been flagged, and while the same can’t be said for explicit humor, there’s a genuinely wonderfully pure spirit to about a solid seventy percent of the app. The TikTok community is knowledgeable about the power of collective support, and stepping on someone’s progress almost always draws an instant mob condemning this action – oftentimes with offers of new friendship to the downtrodden. Alternate accounts are easy to make, meaning the community will always find their friends again. This strong community and sense of belonging that the TikTok algorithm creates makes it easier to break down barriers between users and creators, and so the use of 'duets' and 'stitches' to easily generate collaborative content that portrays diverse perspectives on the same issue also helped start some incredibly important conversations.

Addressing Concerns and Misconceptions

It is common to hear that TikTok should be banned because of its poor data protection and privacy and the Chinese government control. It is acknowledged that TikTok, through its parent company, has made mistakes. These need to be rectified. That said, these do not justify a ban, prohibition, or forced sale of TikTok. In this section, these concerns are addressed and shown to be based more on misunderstanding or misguided fears rather than reality.

Throughout the histories of the main social media platforms of the "Big Tech" – including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube – these platforms have been subject to criticism and regulatory actions for inadequate levels of data privacy and security. This is part and parcel of any new technology becoming part of daily lives. They have gone through regulatory measures and are all now considered to follow international privacy standards and thus are authorized within the European Union to maintain data of their citizens. This point will be covered in further detail in a later section. Moreover, the Chinese government has enacted laws aimed at making Chinese tech companies submit to data collection requests and control of data, even if the data is collected abroad. However, the expansion of Chinese law to pursue extraterritorial jurisdiction, and essentially what this means for US TikTok users, is also overstated and needs to be considered in the context of US laws.

TikTok has implemented many measures to ensure that a user’s private data is protected and kept safe. This is detailed in a later section. Furthermore, it is a common misconception that TikTok arbitrarily censors videos, profiles, and hashtags based on internal reasoning that is not aligned with international human rights and free speech standards. These are all addressed in a later section. When drafting this section, the main emphasis is on providing the public with the right mechanisms and facts to have an informed dialogue on whether or not TikTok should be restricted or banned.

The Importance of Freedom of Expression

TikTok is an important space for the freedom of expression. Today’s public square is online, and our conversations reflect a diverse and divided human population. TikTok reflects users across the world. Videos appearing on the "For You" page, which uses an algorithm to push popular videos and videos it thinks you want to see, include posts from TikTok stars, small businesses, personal accounts, and everybody in between who has something to say or show. The most popular trend for the TikTok resolutions was for users who are trying to manifest success in their music careers, while others focus on creating businesses or personal success.

There is a strong argument to be made that the freedom to make beauty, humor, and culture should matter as much to us as the freedom to make law, because they are tied up with each other. Technological innovation is at the heart of business success, and culture both shapes and is shaped by cutting-edge technology. Policy analysts and philosophers alike are interested in what technology and culture are trying to tell us, and TikTok provides a window into those stories. Communities rely on managers for emotional cheer, and for many people, expressing themselves on the platform can be a form of creative play. When a user’s ability to access the service is limited, or when content moderation makes it harder for creators to share their ideas, we are losing out. We are putting up barriers to what could be successes and progressive discussion. Many of us are stuck at home. We rely on digital communal spaces, especially during times of global strife. In a world full of mushrooming regulations and stifling violence and cruelty, we are self-evidently made better off by an encoded freedom of expression.

Conclusion

In sum, we believe that TikTok should not be banned. TikTok has established itself as a unique platform that can accommodate and amplify diverse creative and community-building voices, and to date, it has facilitated unprecedented freedom of expression across all of its users. Its creators, too, are afforded an extraordinary degree of liberty when making a platform of their own. Together with a series of technological advances, which render it resistant to the inflamed debates spurred by recent controversies, and the international, non-US-centric developments it has seen of late, we think that TikTok is ready less for a regulatory crackdown and more for the world abroad to see it.

There exists the potential for a moderation strategy and governance structure for the future that is aimed at protecting and preserving TikTok’s more unique offerings in media and cultural value. We also believe that TikTok does not need to double down on the status quo to secure its custody of young, digital-native users. As its story has shown, TikTok is not a piece of technology capable only of a static, normative use, bound wholly by the generation that took to it first. Instead, it is a tool of possibility and can adapt and accommodate the changing needs and demands of this and following generations. Social media governance is a suggestion of a kind of moderative constituent communication that should be involved in these contexts. Discussing this subject specifically could finally force stakeholders away from the culture of fear that has so far informed the retreat from digital technology. The result would be a richer world enhanced by a diversity of uses to which these social media are applied.

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