“It was a violation of our First Amendment rights”: FIU students react to the TikTok ban

The Supreme Court upheld the law, citing national security concerns, and TikTok temporarily went dark for 12 hours in the US before President Donald Trump pledged to act. | Via PantherNOW.

Ledian Gonzalzez and Candela Maceda | Staff Writers

On January 18th, TikTok users were met with a message announcing its removal from nearly all U.S phones. The popular social media app disappeared from users’ phones, subsequently returning a few days later.

In April 2024, Former President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance, the Chinese parent company to TikTok, to sell the app or face a ban in the US. Within the same month, Florida International University banned TikTok after notifying students that the app, among other applications, would not work on personal devices while using the university’s WiFi.

The Supreme Court upheld the law, citing national security concerns, and TikTok temporarily went dark for 12 hours in the US before President Donald Trump pledged to act.

President Trump signed an executive order on January 22, granting TikTok a 75-day extension during which the US federal government will not enforce the law. The order doesn’t overturn the ban, but rather orders the Department of Justice to not to take action against any US company that may purchase the app.

TikTok remains unavailable to download on Apple and Google app stores.

Students at FlU shared a variety of opinions regarding the ban, ranging from dismayed to approving.

“I’m very disappointed [over the TikTok ban.] I believe that TikTok is a First Amendment right and I don’t understand  how it got passed. It’s crazy to me, I thought TikTok was here to stay,” said Daniel Galvino, physics student. 

“I think it is more about money than politics, if you don’t know your politicians, they buy a lot of stock in Meta. It’s projected that Meta stocks are gonna go up and law-makers know they have the direct influence to change the economy,” said Galvino.

“The TikTok ban only lasted a day, all that panicking and for what?,” said Gianna Osorio, chemistry student. 

“Also, I feel like there was no point to it, because they’re trying to own it and our information is getting leaked and then everyone just moved to a Chinese app, aka RedNote. There was really no point to it and I feel it was kinda a violation of our First Amendment rights,” she said.

Some students believe the TikTok ban will have a positive impact on society, and they point out that there are still other similar apps available for use in America.

“Truthfully I think you guys are addicted, it was gone for less than a day and I saw so many people freaking out. You guys can go to Instagram,” said Alessandro Gonzalez, computer engineering student. 

“I think the TikTok ban is very needed for some people, I think a lot of people are addicted to their phones. I deleted it the second it got banned so I can’t get it again. I think it’s a very good change of pace for some people,” said Maurice Estrada, political science student.

Ultimately, when the fate of TikTok will be decided when the extension is over, or if ByteDance proceeds with selling the app to a willing buyer.

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