American TikTokkers are concerned about the impending ban of social media platform TikTok in the United States. According to them, the American government ignores that such a ban endangers their daily livelihood.
“It’s so essential for small businesses and makers; it’s my full-time job,” says 23-year-old Ayman Chaudhary from Chicago, for example. She makes short videos about books on TikTok. “It really worries me that I live in a country that would implement these kinds of bans instead of focusing on what’s really important, like gun control, health care and education.”
President Joe Biden signed a law last week leading to a possible ban of the popular app in the country. The law states, among other things, that ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, must sell its American parts. If ByteDance doesn’t do this, TikTok could be banned in the US. The law is intended to prevent China from using the social media app for propaganda and from abusing data from American users.
