At 10 p.m. on Jan. 18 the notification popped up immediately when Americans opened their TikTok’s For You pages, “TikTok will be banned, you will no longer be able to use it.”
The ban came earlier to the central time zone since the ban went into effect at midnight in the most eastern U.S. territory time zone.
The ban was the result of Supreme Court leaving the appellate court’s decision to ban TikTok in place unless the social media app was sold to an American interests.
“I used it half of my day,” sophomore Omar Pinon said. “I watched it during school and before going to bed. It had formed part of my life, so it will really affect me.”
Twelve hours after the ban took effect, the black out was over. An executive order signed by the new president delayed the ban for 75 days, ostensively giving time for an American buyer to come forward. Extending the deadline does not guarantee the app will remain past the beginning of April. An impending second loss of the app does not encourage junior Jessika Alvidrez.
“I’ve had it since 2018 back when it was Musically,” Alvidrez said. “I will miss the fun dancing to make with my friends if it gets banned.”
In a survey of 80 students, 68% said they used TikTok, while 32% said they don’t use the app.
“TikTok should be banned,” junior Zaiden Bergen said. “I think it’s a Chinese spying app. I feel it’s a distraction from the real world. People spend hours scrolling and doing nothing.”
Senior Nayla Hernandez is part of the 68% of TikTok users.
“I would always get my information from TikTok,” Hernandez said. “It had been my only source of information and entertainment. I saved all of my drafts because the TikTok’s camera had a better quality; I saved my useful DIY’s.”
To date, no evidence that TikTok stole people’s date has been found, yet the Supreme Court upheld the decision to ban it based on a security threat from China.
“Users who use Rednote ( app like TikTok) have had their information stolen,” junior Jose Gonzales said. “People are still downloading the app even though it continues to steal their information all of the time. I don’t know what was wrong with TikTok. There were no signs they stole information.”
TikTok is an offshoot of a Chinese company Bytedance. TikTok was actually incorporated in California in 2015, and its CEO Shou Zi Chew is an Indonesian businessman and is not from China but from Indonesia. During Congressional hearings before the ban, Congressional questions centered around China. Shou was repeatedly asked if he had served in the Chinese army to which he replied multiple times that he couldn’t have because he never lived there.
Calls for banning TikTok were not new and may have originally stemmed from a stunt by youth on social media including TikTok who spread the word to sign up for a spot at presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally in 2020, thus taking all the crowd spots, leaving a near empty arena. Trump then began to call for TikTok’s banning as a security threat over China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying “We’re banning them.” Trump flip flopped on the issue as the 2024 election neared probably because Bytedance has significant Republican mega donors as investors.
Whatever the motivation behind the ban and unban and possible ban in April again, TikTok users might need to find alternatives. Freshman Madalyn Tacker has a plan B if TikTok gets officially banned in the United States.
“If TikTok gets banned, I will try to find something more productive to do,” Tacker said. “Hanging out with my friends and play Roblox are some of my main options.”
Alternatives similar to the app include Lemon8 (also owned by Bytedance), Facebook Reels, Youtube Shorts and others. When the 12-hour black out happened, people scrambled to find alternatives including Rednote, which became so popular that Chinese students were welcoming American users and even asking for help on their English homework.
TikTok can be considered addicting. Junior Kevin Neufeld said he used TikTok during his free time.
“I only got TikTok because my uncle would send me videos from there,” Neufeld said. “I would watch it for about three hours when I had nothing to do.”
Senior Richard Rodriguez, however, said he doesn’t mind if TikTok gets banned.
“It doesn’t bother me much,” Rodriguez said. “I had TikTok for five years, but I can replaced it with Instagram Reels. I’m usually busy with work and a lot of things, so I never have time to be chilling.”
Though students like the entertainment, English teacher Bernice Castillo said it is a waste of time.
“I’m not a fan of TikTok,” Castillo said. “I hate seeing my kids, friends or family members on their phones. I feel like it’s a waste of time because people don’t actually socialize anymore.”
TikTok users, however, love their app. They found a way they liked to socialize, and if TikTok goes away, they will find something else just as good because technology keeps evolving.
“I was first on Musically, then it became TikTok, so I have used it for about 10 years from 2015 until 2025,” Gonzales said. “I spend about five hours a day on it. The biggest thing I will miss is the nostalgia.”
