We are losing democracy on social media, here, in America
The U.S President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent social media-obsessed teens into a tizzy when they said on Tuesday that the U.S. government is “looking at” potentially banning TikTok. (cnbc.com)
TikTok is one of the most popular mobile apps with 2 billion downloads worldwide and over 70 million downloads in the U.S. It allows users to upload and watch others’ 15-second videos. with the ability to clip and put background music themselves easily, TikTok became extremely popular in Gen-Z.
The U.S government is looking at banning TikTok with unspecific security risk and the concern of sending the user’s personal data to the Chinese Government. Because TikTok is owned by its mother Chinese company ByteDance.
“TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked,” a TikTok spokesperson previously told CNBC in response to Pompeo’s comments. (cnbc.com)
But in a country of democracy, at least this is what I have been told. Is it right to ban a social platform?
“As far as I know, the U.S. Government has never banned an app before,” Jennifer Golbeck, a professor who specializes in data privacy at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies, tells CNBC Make It. (cnbc.com)
After the U.S banned Huawei, a technology company which is famous for smartphone and 5G technology. People strongly believe that technologically, the government has the ability to do that.
But is it right to ban something because that is popular but from another country? especially social media platforms, the place people care the most in this era. It is against freedom of speech and love. My answer is no and never. It is not ethical. If the global competition is killed, the domestic companies will not develop fast as usual either. From the social side, we will lose democracy, more and more controls, and restrictions will be added to our lives in the future.
The more things a country bans, the more competition one country kills, the slower this country will develop.
