Four hours of scrolling on TikTok a day. Although this statistic is just one sample of the amount of time a GBHS student spends on TikTok, this trend is mirrored in the 170 million Americans who utilize the platform as well—whether they be consumers and/or creators. 

That adds up to 680 million hours lost each day as the United States bade farewell to TikTok on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.

Preceded by apps like Vine and Musical.ly, TikTok is considered the most popular short-form media app ever created, as it has consistently topped charts as the most downloaded app of all time, setting the stage for much of Gen Z’s culture. 

“I’m so cooked, what am I supposed to do?” Sophomore Jenna Jarrar said in response to the ban. 

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was signed into law on April 24, 2024, set a 270-day deadline for TikTok to be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned in the United States. The government feared that the Chinese government would coerce the parent company into divulging information about TikTok’s users or force it to spread propaganda.

On Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of the ban in Tiktok Inc. v. Garland. At that time, the app was intended to remain on US citizens’ phones, with the inability to perform software updates, and it would be removed from both Apple’s App Store and Android’s Play Store. 

However, on Saturday evening, the app unexpectedly displayed a message apologizing for its unavailability, stating: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” 

President-elect Donald Trump is considering an executive order to maintain TikTok access, and prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, he asked the Supreme Court to extend the deadline of the ban. Also, Shou Zi Chew—CEO of TikTok—has been communicating with Trump over the future of TikTok in the United States, and plans to be in attendance at Trump’s inauguration. 

TikTok is not the only app to fall prey to this ban: video-editing platform CapCut, alongside Lemon8, Gauth and Lark, have also been banned as they are owned by ByteDance. 

GBHS students and users across the country alike have utilized the platform as a form of creative expression, pursuing content creation on TikTok. As a result of the ban, creators feel disappointed that they are forced to abandon the brand they spent years constructing. 

“It’s upsetting to think of (TikTok) leaving, and we’re currently in a strategy to make sure that we have all the videos (saved),” Laura Nickerson, Head of Social Media at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, said. “So there’s that one frustration, especially because the TikTok audience is really different overall from the other audiences that we as a brand have accumulated.” 

Free speech activists claim that the ban is an attack on First Amendment rights. Interest groups in favor of keeping TikTok such as the American Civil Liberties Union declared that this ban would fail to safeguard citizens’ voices because the ban “[allows] the government to shut down an entire platform and the free speech rights of so many based on fear-mongering and speculation.”

“It was never about protecting us from foreign interference. It’s censorship at its fundamentals,” Aleeza Siddique, a sophomore at GBHS, said. 

Many creators have used the app as a means for their career. Music, fashion, humor—much of it was sourced from TikTok. Influencers and artists like PinkPantheress, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X gained enormous popularity through the app and shot to the top of billboards. 

“For many people it is how they make a living and take care of themselves and their families. It is also a platform where people can easily share their passions and get their names out there,” Alina Khangura, a junior who posts singing videos on the app, said. “I really wish a different action was taken instead of a complete ban because there is value in TikTok and it is worth keeping around.”

Beyond the arts, TikTok is commonly used by young people for more practical purposes, community and to stay up to date on current events. 

“I used Tiktok for my college applications. I found a lot of advice … there where I like fashion tips and stuff, and then even political news,” Averie Fuji, a senior who primarily consumes content on TikTok, said.

The access that TikTok has to users’ data was the main concern that led to the ban. However, critics of the ban claim it is unfair for the government to apply a certain level of scrutiny to one platform and not others. 

“If it’s not China, what is it? Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, like the data is getting stolen. It’s just who’s stealing it,” Siddique said.

TikTok is notable for its unique algorithm, with many students preferring this platform over others like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The algorithm software is owned by ByteDance, adding to the reasons for the TikTok ban.

“I think the algorithm is better than on other social media apps,” Gayatri Asokan, a senior and TikTok content creator said. “I see what I actually want to see, what I think is funny, and honestly, I just feel like I can control my own opinion.” 

As a result of this algorithm, viewers’ content is hyper specific. The result: a language of humor understood as “brain rot.” While the entertainment term may seem absurd, Oxford named it as the Word of the Year 2024, a testament to TikTok’s cultural influence. 

For creators, however, TikTok is only one of many outlets where they can express their creativity. 

“I don’t think my artistic creativity will be restricted with the ban because my creativity doesn’t flourish just because of a single app. It honestly comes from my own self and being creative is a part of who I am, something that comes naturally and not solely based upon TikTok,” Khangura said. 

Khangura and Fuji mentioned how they both will spend more time on Instagram, despite its weaker algorithm in terms of personalization as opposed to TikTok.

“The main difference that I’ve observed is that TikTok generally has more original content than I’ve seen Instagram have, all of the videos that I’ve seen on Instagram I have seen on TikTok first,” Jarrar said. “TikTok is also the main thing that younger people use, and so that’s why a lot of the time we have new developments.”

As a result of the ban, users have been flocking to RedNote, another Chinese social media platform. RedNote, or Xiaohongshu (小红书) in Mandarin Chinese, translates to “little red book,” which refers to a collection of quotations from Mao Zedong, former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Nickerson (USC Keck Head of Social Media) emphasizes the cyclical nature of social media apps. With Meta’s end to third party fact-checking and Elon Musk’s purchase of X (Twitter), social media apps go through various changes in their lifetimes, and this ban is just one in a line of many.

“The bigger conversation to me should be about social media regulation as a whole. I’ve been an early adopter of the app, and I’ll be really sad to see it go, but I truly believe that in five minutes, something else will take its place, and it will all move forward,” Nickerson said. “I just think this is the opportunity for us to take a look at the whole picture and see, ‘what do we want social media to be’ and ‘where do we think the lines are’ and then how do we manage that.” 

Disclaimer: This article covers a rapidly-evolving situation. Please expect updates.