The TikTok ban

Yesterday, January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled the United States government can ban any app for any reason. Today, it was TikTok. Tomorrow, it can be any app, even the ones Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk own.

The United States has stripped people of their rights, property, and livelihood many times before. But the TikTok ban is the first time it has done this to so many people, including people from privileged communities. TikTok had 170 million US users and 22 million small businesses. It enabled artists to be discovered. Corporations built their marketing around it. And there was BookTok that boosted the publishing industry. (An author from my publisher had his book become a bestseller because of a viral TikTok video.) If the Trump Administration were to delay or overturn the ban, it will certainly be with strings attached. TikTok — in fact, any social media platform — will never be the source of free communication and connection ever again.

That freedom made TikTok such an incredible app. It didn’t require extensive knowledge of video production that you need for YouTube. You got in front of your phone and talked, danced, and sung. It was like engaging in a conversation. We also got to see people from different backgrounds and other parts of the world. TikTok also gave us an immediacy and honesty we weren’t getting from the mainstream media. We got news long before we saw it on TV or…