TikTok, the app that allows users to create, post, and view a variety of videos ranging from “What I Eat in a Day” to trendy dances.

In Apr. 2024, the government announced that a law was passed to try and ban the app. On Jan. 19, 2025, the app was banned for 12 hours before becoming unbanned due to the efforts of Donald Trump. Before the ban, Massachusetts senator Edward Markey stated, “The stakes are high. That’s why I will soon introduce the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act to extend that deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days.” During the 12-hour ban, people tried different ways to watch the videos they liked and enjoyed watching.

“During the 12 hours that TikTok was banned, I was in a world of loss,” Sophomore Marissa Schoenradt said. “I watched Instagram Reels but they were not the same whatsoever.”

While the ban was being decided, Arizona Senator Mark Kelley made a statement.

“I know this is controversial. I know there are folks out there earning a living, you know, on TikTok, but it has a national security risk to it,” Kelley said.

People have different opinions about the ban, though many have been against it.

“I believe that the TikTok ban shouldn’t be a thing we’re worrying about because there are so many bigger problems that should be dealt with,” freshman Molly Hunnicutt said. “Although TikTok could be a problem in the future, it isn’t a big enough problem to make an entire country ban it.”

With the app being a big platform, people use the app on a daily basis. Depending on the content posted and what people like, people will get a lot of views on their videos.

“I use TikTok at least five days of the week,” freshman Khloe Smith said. “I would post about once a week and I would get lots of views on my videos.”

People heard about TikTok differently, either hearing about it from their families and friends or learning about it from the internet.

“I got started on TikTok because more and more of my family members started getting it,” Schoenradt said. “So, one day during e-learning I asked my mom if I could get it and it took some convincing, but eventually I got it.”

Though there is much pushback on the ban, there are people that are pleased or unbothered by it.

“I think the ban was very odd but also good for some people,” Smith said. “TikTok is a big platform and a lot of people post dumb stuff that can influence people easily.”

Even if people don’t have the app, they can still enjoy different content that the app might show on different platforms, like YouTube Shorts.

“I like to watch videos of people falling or trendy dances,” Hunnicutt said. “I think it’s funny watching people get hurt or seeing the different dances that people are into.”