Ready for the latest social media uproar? President Donald Trump wants to ban TikTok for good, and although this may seem ridiculous, it almost happened.  

TikTok, formerly Musical.ly, is a social media platform where people from all around the world make content that they can post and share with others.TikTok is now one of the most popular social networking sites used by teenagers from all around the world.

  Many people especially like TikTok as it was a place where users could “Express themselves freely.” said Natalie Lin ‘23. “If TikTok is banned, we lose a way to share our opinions. He [Trump] should not have the right to take that away from us.” 

The app is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance and for a few months now, the Trump Administration has allegedly claimed, “TikTok is a risk to national security because the app is owned by a Chinese parent company…” They’re also claiming “ByteDance could be required to hand over TikTok’s user data to the Chinese government, compromising the safety and privacy of US users,” according to Technology reporter Brian Fung.

Fung added, “There is no proof of that whatsoever. From the information we have so far, Trump’s doing this based on his own speculation.”

According to CNN News, “The Trump administration said it will restrict access to TikTok on Sunday, Sept. 20.” though “…you’ll still be able to use TikTok — if it’s already on your phone. But at midnight between Sunday and Monday, TikTok will vanish from US app stores… That means US users looking to install the app anew, or who are looking for security patches or other updates, won’t be able to receive them.” 

That was more than a month ago, and while TikTok fans held their breath awaiting the bad news, there was a last-minute reprieve. But, the controversy is not over.

There’s a possible partnership that could happen with TikTok and Oracle to help solve the security issue. If they can’t agree on a deal by Nov. 12, “then further restrictions will be applied to TikTok that could degrade its functionality, Department officials said,” according to Fung.