OPINION: No more TikTok means no more freedom of expression

TikTok is known for its unique platform, but banning it could mean more than ceasing its entertainment. ORACLE PHOTO/CAMILLE GRALL

The sounds of TikTok live videos, trending sounds and the hours of doom-scrolling all came to an end on Jan. 18, when TikTok was temporarily banned.

But the ban was short-lived. About 12 hours after it went offline for American users, the app came back with a message thanking Donald Trump for his efforts to bring it online.

Then, Trump signed an executive order to delay the ban for 75 days on his first day in office. In the meantime, people who still have the app downloaded can use it but the platform was taken off Google and Apple’s app stores.

But the ban – and its possible return – pose a threat to Americans’ First Amendment rights.

Ari Cohn is the lead counsel for Tech Policy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a non-profit organization that defends Americans’ free speech rights.

Cohn said the ban is a “a staggering and unprecedented assertion of government power.”

“Never before has the government had the power to ban an entire forum for communication,” he said.

The Department of Justice laid out two main purposes in its argument for the ban: to reduce the Chinese government’s control over what Americans see on TikTok and to stop the Chinese government from accessing Americans’ data.

The ban went into effect because the app’s parent company, ByteDance, did not sell the platform to a U.S. buyer by the given deadline. The ban was even upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 17, one day before it temporarily went into effect.

“But to avoid the obvious First Amendment problems, in court the government invented a new justification: data privacy,” Cohn said.

The app allows individuals to share something as simple as funny dance videos to more serious topics like educational videos, political opinions and current news.

TikTok is one of the biggest social media platforms used by people our age. Almost 40% of Americans ages 18 to 29 use TikTok to get their news, according to a 2024 study from the Pew Research Center.

With TikTok’s entertaining format, it allows individuals at a younger age to consume news without having to read a newspaper or listen to the radio.

Cohn said the Internet has rapidly become the most impactful and important place for people to speak their minds.

“It has had a profound democratizing effect on communication, allowing everyday people to speak to audiences previously with reach of only the well-resourced and powerful,” Cohn said.

If TikTok is banned, there would be a loss of voices and viewpoints that aren’t covered by other forms of mainstream media.

“With TikTok banned, it would be difficult to reach global audiences and to educate those outside of their local community about various issues and topics,” said Alice Messiah, President of the USF First Amendment Forum, a student organization.

Some popular movements that gained traction on TikTok include Black Lives Matter in 2020 and encouraging young adults to vote in the 2024 election.

“The Internet has rapidly become the most impactful and important place for people to speak their minds,” Cohn said.

Banning one social media platform, regardless of the reason, may make it more justifiable to ban another one in the future.

Exercise your freedom of speech on social media, because that may be at risk in the future.