Americans were in for a rude awakening on the night of January 18, 2025, with the passing of an act known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adsary Controlled Applications Act by Congress which blocked everyone living within the United States from accessing their For You Page (also known as fyp) on TikTok.
”TikTok was a way for me to discover new types of music and new artists,” Cameron Jones, a Rock Creek High School senior, “I also use it to help grow in my faith and to get sports” Jones said.
This ban was put into place because our government believed China was using it to steal our data so they labeled it as a national security threat. Days before this ban was put into place tons of people were trying to figure out what was going to be the next TikTok.
“I switched to Rednote, which is like another version of TikTok,” Rock Creek High School, senior, Ashanti Gibbs said “There were already a lot of Americans there so it was basically just TikTok again.”
Minutes before TikTok was officially shut down people were posting their drafts, spilling secrets, sharing memories from when they first had the app, but most importantly connected and gave thanks to their followers.
“I was upset for a little bit, but then again, I know people have cried over it or have taken it to the extreme,” Gibbs said. ”Maybe it’s a good thing TikTok was banned for a little while because most of the society today is on it.”
Many people deleted their TikTok account because they believed it wouldn’t come back, but 12 hours later it did and the app is gone from all app stores and is impossible to re-download. TikTok, a hub of viral dances and cultural trends stood silent for 12 hours, but now that it is back, it’s stronger than ever.
