After the Supreme Court evaluated the merits of a ban of the social media app TikTok, they ruled unanimously on Friday January 17th, that national security outweighed TikTok’s claims of constitutional rights and the interests of millions of American users. Since the ban was upheld, the app will be removed from App Stores and will no longer be able to be updated, starting January 19th, though the law will likely not be enforced until January 20th. However, there are alternatives, like Instagram and Facebook, but there’s also newer alternatives like Lemon8 and LittleRedBook (or RedNote), all possessing problems.

Will Owens (‘27) noted accusations directed towards the TikTok owner could be due to race. 

“I feel a lot of the persecution of it has racial undertones, as they’re accusing the owner of giving information to the Chinese government, even though he’s from Singapore,” said Owens. 

 Other students find problems with TikTok in particular, for reasons like security. 

Despite using it, Jonas Maender (‘26) supports the ban due to security concerns, like TikTok’s vast collection of data. 

“I think it’s probably good if it gets banned, because there are a lot of bad rumors about it, like the security aspect, and also our generation doesn’t really need that,” said Maender.  

However, some problems of TikTok are common throughout other social media apps, like misinformation.

“I think American social media has most of, if not all the same problems that TikTok has… and as we’ve seen in the past, on social media platforms such as X or Facebook, [both] widely regarded as more western, have had plenty of influence from other governments trying to affect the United States political system,” said Owens. “I definitely think that there are benefits of social media, and it creates connectedness between the whole world, though it has definitely been connected to mental illness and addiction, and I would rather, in general, stay away from it.” 

Aaryan Aayan Ali (‘26) has witnessed firsthand the effects of social media on his friends. 

Ali said, “I have so many friends who I see that are so addicted to TikTok, and I think banning it has its own benefits. For example, the iPad Kids,[some of whom are] my own relatives: I just go up to them. I say ‘hi;’ they don’t respond. All they do is keep scrolling on TikTok, watching stuff again. I [don’t even] understand what they’re seeing.”

In addition to affecting people’s social lives, TikTok has many effects relating to mental health. 

“TikTok affects [a lot of people] mentally. Because, one, they can feel like they are missing out, and there’s also just stuff that distracts us from actual life,” said Maender.  

Social media can also lead to addiction, so some students have adopted techniques to protect themselves from being addicted.

“It’s very easy to get addicted to it, to have massive amounts of content. People have very low attention spans because of social media,” said Ali. “[So,] I have set limits. I’m going to use social media for this amount of time, and mostly for text, and I choose the type of content I watch, and if I feel it is inappropriate, I block it.” 

Despite social media’s ability to facilitate long-distance communication, as of now, social media often leads to isolation. 

Pierson Clardy (‘25) said, “Although we are technically more connected, we also feel more alone.”

Though a ban is one way to deal with these issues, some would prefer other solutions.

Ali said, “Maybe instead of banning it, find another solution. Maybe changing the type of content or [establishing] boundaries for TikTok and other social media that would be more beneficial in my opinion… [because] it helps us connect with people so much more [across long distances].” 

Others view it as being more effective to put our resources into safeguarding information as a whole, rather than banning one app. 

Owens said, “I think, instead of trying to ban TikTok, we should be putting our efforts into creating more safe digital platforms and making sure the American government does its kobs when protecting our information.”

 The ban is opposed by some who–despite using other social media apps–value TikTok for its percieved unique community that is difficult to replicate.

“If a ban happens, I’m going to have to get a life or something. I’m going to be really sad. I oppose it, heavily. TikTok has this sense of community, and if it gets taken away, the TikTok community will cease to exist. Instagram Reels is just not the same,” said Kate Lim (‘25). 

Anna Sallach (‘26), agreed with Lim, feeling the ban is far from the most important of the government’s concerns. 

“I think [the government] doesn’t like the younger generation, and they want to take it all away. The TikTok cloud is being stored in Texas now, [and] even if anyone want[ed] to, they’d know my preferences about whether I like cats or dogs; it’s stupid stuff like this,” said Sallach. “The government isn’t fixing anything or solving anything. They should be out there trying to stop more corrupt people… and be solving poverty and homelessness, but no they’re out there banning TikTok like they’ve got nothing better to do.” 

Still, for many students, the TikTok ban doesn’t affect them since they don’t use it.

“I don’t really miss TikTok that much…I definitely think the ban will be impactful, but just not to me specifically,” said Clardy.

All in all, students are bracing for the ban of TikTok, which they feel will be monumental, transforming teenage life. However, students are split on whether this ban would be an improvement, and if a ban is even the right way to control TikTok at all.