Lawmakers and TikTok by Alena Thomas

THE BIG QUESTION:

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 13:45:22 UTC

Should TikTok be banned in the United States?

YES

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NO

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 13:45:22 UTC

Why do lawmakers want to ban it?

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Why do users want to keep it?

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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ATTENTION and ADDICTION

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MENTAL HEALTH

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CHINA

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What does the article conclude?

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What do you think?

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amt325_ — 2023-10-31 13:51:50 UTC

"Some adults feel like the app consumes too much of young people's attention" (Karini)

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 13:53:05 UTC

"digital fentanyl because of its addictive nature among young users and believes it should be blocked across the United States" (Gallagher)

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 13:58:01 UTC

Even though TikTok consists of very short videos, young people can fall into the trap of continually scrolling for hours and shorten the span of attention because the videos give what a user needs within a couple of seconds. This can impact how they function on a daily basis.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:04:59 UTC

“Banning TikTok will cause a huge job loss for creators who depend solely on TikTok for their livelihood, and will have a devastating impact on small businesses that use it for marketing and sales" (Sykes)

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:11:57 UTC

TikTok has built so many opportunities for small businesses and influencers to become entrepreneurs. They use the platform heavily to get signed with brand deals and market their products to make money. It has benefitted so many people, especially start up businesses who are trying to reach out to a bigger audience with their products.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:16:15 UTC

"To her it’s a one-stop shop for a wide range of content, from mental health advice... all presented in bite-sized clips that don’t require plowing through blocks of text" (Beckford)

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"And while TikTok provides resources on mental health, Shahin says it and other social media platforms can heighten attention deficiency, anxiety and depression" (Shahin)

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:18:41 UTC

There are many TikTok influencers who provide their mental health experiences and resources that can help people connect and help themselves.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:21:21 UTC

The downside of TikTok is that it can directly affect people with their mental health. Since videos are at most a minute on TikTok, it causes people to have the need to be satisfied very fast. If they don't, it makes people feel the reasons stated above.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:24:07 UTC

China can manipulate what videos that are being seen on TikTok by Americans. It can be a threat to national security because whatever videos are being watched on TikTok can be directly sent back to the Chinese Communist Party.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:26:56 UTC

I think that the article is overall sided towards TikTok should not be banned. Yes, they did mention some downsides of TikTok such as China, mental health, and addiction/attention issues. However, it can be seen throughout the article that they come back to the idea that TikTok gives people joy and entertainment.

amt325_ — 2023-10-31 14:29:26 UTC

I think that TikTok should not be banned because like the article mentioned multiple times, TikTok has given people opportunity to connect, express creatively, entertain, create a business, and just in general make people happy. TikTok has influenced so many people and provides a variety of resources. There's videos about everything that people can rely on.