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What a Tik Top Ban Means for our Youth

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Maya Mackey

In case you haven’t heard, the online video platform Tik Tok is under threat in the U.S. Some American government officials believe Tik Tok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., has access to American data and is selling Americans’ private information to the Chinese government. (Why this matters when Mark Zuckerberg has also been accused of selling American data and interfering with the U.S. presidential elections remains a mystery). 

While Senator Ed Markey, who proposed a bill to extend making a final decision by 270 days, and Donald Trump are vocally opposed to the ban, the ultimate decision lies with the Supreme Court. Currently, no decision has been made about TikTok’s future in the U.S. A final decision will be made on Sunday, January 19, 2025. 

Government officials and civilians alike are concerned about the economic impact the loss of TikTok could create. Reports from an Oxford economic study indicate the TikTok creators and TikTok’s own advertisements have generated approximately $24.2 billion dollars in revenue in 2023–$5.3 billion of which directly funded taxes. TikTok estimates that America would lose over $1 billion in revenue the first month following the ban. 

The greatest impact however would be the number of content creators on the app. TikTok estimates there are over one million users on the app. While a small percentage use the app as a primary source of income, most use it simply for entertainment or as a side hustle. If this is the end of TikTok, it’s time to learn how to pivot.

Young people especially need to get reacquainted with Google, libraries and other information sources. A Lot of the Zoomer population (that’s Gen Z) are joking about how they’ll find cool and off-the-beaten trail vacation spots, spas and views if Tik Tok disappears.  

Now would be a great time for “old school” companies like Expedia.com to modernize their approach to advertising. Travel agents need to embrace making Instagram reels or Youtube shorts to make their services known to a younger generation who didn’t take computer class in school. Companies will have to bring their resources to Gen Z instead of expecting Gen Z to forage for information.

Absurd as it might sound, Gen Z and Gen Alpha may experience stress and anxiety over losing their primary source of contact with the world at large. And that is a problem that lies on us. Spaces for teens and kids to connect are dwindling in the city. Skating rinks, arcades, malls and parks aren’t as readily available to young people in Inglewood and L.A., and if we want our kids to have a healthier relationship to tech, we must start developing and funding spaces for them to create and connect with people their age.

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