A bipartisan bill known as the Restrict Act could eventually ban TikTok. The act went through the House of Representatives, which made their final vote on the decision with an overwhelming majority of 352-65. If the bill passes the Senate, it would leave the 102 million American users without access to the app. 

TikTok has roughly over 1.1 million content creators, and one-third of them make a full-time salary.

“I am very upset that they plan to ban TikTok,” sophomore Olivia Gibson said. “There are a lot of good content creators on the app who have changed people’s lives for the better.” 

However, according to USAtoday.com, 61% of adults favor a ban, while the younger generations, including adults younger than 30, and members of Gen Z make up 39% of the opposition.

“For me, the main reason I feel like this bill is a good thing is because anything used and controlled by the Chinese government is only to hurt Americans,” science teacher Laura Karnafel said. “So, it has to be American-owned because they are mining American data. They can and will use it to hurt and damage our country.”

Even though TikTok’s parent Chinese company, ByteDance, claims that no data has ever been given away to the Chinese government, Karanfel stays skeptical since the company is located in China.

“It doesn’t matter if they say they won’t give it to the Chinese government,” Karnafel said. “If it’s Chinese-owned, the government is in control of that company and the company has no say. That’s how China works.”

Representative Mike Gallagher maintains that the bill does not amount to a ban of the video-sharing app.

“What we’re after is, not a ban, it’s a forced separation,” Gallagher said. “The TikTok user experience can continue and improve so long as ByteDance doesn’t own the company.”