The Senate passed the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act”–a bill that combines a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine and other nations as well as a ban on TikTok– on April 24, and it was signed by President Joe Biden hours later.
The bill gives TikTok’s parent company, Chinese-owned ByteDance, 12 months to sell TikTok to a different company, or the app will be unable to be downloaded in the App Store. However, for users who have already installed TikTok, the app will not simply vanish.
The bill came after years of tense talks between ByteDance and both the Trump and Biden administrations, as well as years of FBI warnings that TikTok could pose national security risks if the Chinese government forces ByteDance to leak U.S. data.
Technically, ByteDance has nine months to sell, but after a push from House Democrats, Biden can grant TikTok an additional 90 day window to sell TikTok. This is a sharp departure from a prior attempt to force ByteDance to divest the app, which gave ByteDance a mere six months.
I use TikTok very often, and there are concerns for teenagers because [we rely] on TikTok a lot. [I think if TikTok was banned,] it would make me more bored. But, it would also make me more [productive with actual things in real life.]
— Madison Cohen ’26
However, many Americans are critical of this bill, expecting lawsuits to come on the basis of First Amendment rights. In the past, an executive order by former President Donald Trump to force ByteDance to sell was found unconstitutional for violating free speech rights.
TikTok is used primarily by teenagers, and has become a central source of entertainment for many students at Staples. As such, they have many opinions on a potential ban.
“I use TikTok very often, and there are concerns for teenagers because [we rely] on TikTok a lot,” Madison Cohen ’26 said. “[I think if TikTok was banned,] it would make me more bored. But, it would also make me more [productive with actual things in real life.]”
However, there is no consensus among students about what the fate of the app should be. Some students advocate for a ban, while others are adamant against one.
“I’m not an avid user of TikTok, but a lot of my friends are and I know a lot of my friends enjoy using TikTok,” Graham Griffin ’26 said. “It doesn’t really affect me. I wouldn’t care if it was banned.”
