In its six-and-a-half years of existence, it seems that there have always been rumors that social media app TikTok would be banned in the United States. Because these rumors happened so frequently, nobody actually believed this threat.

That is, until March 2024. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban the app in the United States. While the bill’s future is awaiting Senate approval, it left several high schoolers unhappy.

TikTok has been almost every high schooler’s favorite platform for as long as it has existed. It’s a fun place where people can be creative, share a sense of humor, express themselves, and of course, dance, all through the medium of short video clips.

Because the bill was passed and the process of the ban has a higher chance of following through, users are now taking the extinction of TikTok way more seriously. 

“TikTok will ultimately be banned due to the fact that our government has been wanting to get rid of the app for a long period of time,” senior Daniel Ogunosun said. 

TikTok has only been around for about six and a half years, and before that, the app was called Musically. The Musically app was created back in the year 2016, and about two years later, a Chinese company named ByteDance acquired Musically and merged it with an app of their own. Then TikTok was born.

Members of the United States government believe that the Chinese government is using TikTok to get information about United States citizens. Users of TikTok (mainly teenagers) will argue that they have have other problems in the world to worry about, or they’ll say that there is no way to get information about America by watching 15 second videos of people dancing. 

“I use TikTok every day, so I can see how it may affect me if it gets banned, but there are other ways to watch short video clips,” senior Eli Franco said. 

Senior Adie Vergara believes that the ban on the app will affect her habits

“I use TikTok everyday especially when I’m bored”, she says. 

Despite TikTok’s uncertain future, some Elk Grove students said it could lead to some benefits.

“The ban will stop a lot of habits, and I believe that I will be a more productive person,” Ogunosun said.