Penn State Students Share Their Opinions on Banning TikTok
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew repeatedly denied the app has had any involvement or connection with the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party at a hearing before the United States Congress.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and lawmakers in the congressional hearings questioned Chew about this extensively, as there has been bipartisan support for banning the app in America.
TikTok has over 150 million American users and is one of the most popular social media apps overall, with over 1 billion monthly users worldwide.
Andrea Vurgos, a second-year student studying communication sciences and disorders, said TikTok shouldn’t be banned because all social media apps take data — TikTok isn’t the only one.
“I feel like it’s just like any other social media here, especially America… everyone is on TikTok and it has a lot of benefits as well,” Vurgos said.
According to TikTok's demographic data, 80% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 34 years old. The app is also heavily used by college students. In a recent survey, over half of the students said they have used TikTok for help with their homework.
For Samantha Wells, a second-year student studying agriculture business management, banning TikTok would be a detriment to her life.
“I’ve learned so much on TikTok and I know my friends have too, and it’s a good way to connect with people, and I think that getting rid of it would negatively affect people because currently it is the biggest social media there is,” Wells said.
Recently, the Biden administration revealed it wants the Chinese company that owns TikTok to sell the app to keep it on American devices.
Izzy Charboneau is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism and political science. To contact her, email ijc5186@psu.edu.
