TikTok is a valuable social platform

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Time may be running out for TikTok.

Or is the video-sharing platform really getting banned?

A federal judge temporarily postponed President Donald Trump’s order to ban TikTok from U.S. app stores Sunday. This is the second time the ban has been postponed.

American TikTokers like me have grieved the popular app’s coming death multiple times in the past few months. But to say TikTok is either staying or leaving would be inaccurate because, at this point, there’s no clear answer.

On Sunday, I found myself typing a document full of alternate social media handles for my favorite TikTokers in the event we lose the app. Most of these people I’ve never met in-person, but I see their faces every day.

These creators are chefs, comedians, dancers, artists, musicians, actors — the list goes on and on. These are Americans with fans everywhere.

To us, we’re not just losing an app. We’re losing a community.

I’ve heard voices ready to ban the Chinese application for storing American data. I’ve also seen a claim it has potential to push the agenda of U.S. politics in China’s favor.

But the TikTok ban itself is a Trojan horse for larger issues with foreign relations and privacy concerns.

Like all social media platforms, TikTok saves user information. What sets it apart from other popular sites is that data is accrued by a Chinese-owned company. Some worry our information may become fodder for the foreign country to undermine the United States.

In the political sense, thoughts and ideologies shared on my TikTok “For You Page” — the equivalent of a Facebook timeline — is not much different from my Twitter feed. I don’t see much difference in the agendas being pushed.

It’s not for me to decide whether or not China’s involvement with TikTok and American data is a threat. Truthfully, though, I fear we aren’t looking at the bigger picture here: the internet, social media in particular, needs an overhaul.

It’s easy to look at a new, foreign application and point fingers.

What if Facebook or Instagram were banned? Twitter? Snapchat?

What about Google? Youtube? Those also have privacy-related concerns.

It’s time for all of social media — as well as other dominating online companies — to go through privacy reform. Even if TikTok is sold to an American company, it and similar platforms should have information-gathering restrictions.

Despite existing for most of my lifetime, social media has yet to face federally mandated restrictions for what is and isn’t private to the user. The moment someone signs a user agreement with any social media website, they’ve signed a waiver to share information with multiple parties. And don’t forget about websites using cookies or data-storing mechanisms collected in web browsers.

But where do we draw the line?

As of now, a potential user is denied access if they don’t agree to the terms and conditions. And it’s taboo to avoid all social media, especially for a generation so ingrained in technology. In the digital age, the internet is how we connect with one another.

It’s not clear whether TikTok will continue operation in the U.S., but we American TikTokers are hopeful we’ll be able to continue sharing wholesome and fun content with the community we’ve come to love.

We sincerely hope TikTok’s time is not up.