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TikTok stars and experts react to latest move to ban the app from U.S. audiences

Cyber security expert Andrew Rozema says banning TikTok, while decreasing the number of dance memes in our lives, is not entirely a bad move.

With 800 million active users around the world, TikTok has taken audiences by storm. But it’s U.S. audience could be getting smaller. 

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that "the U.S. Commerce Department said it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will bar the apps from accessing essential internet services in the U.S. — a move that could effectively wreck the operation of both Chinese services for U.S. users."

Andrew Rozema is the Director of Grand Rapids Community College Center for Cyber Security Studies. He says banning TikTok, while it will decrease the number of dance memes in our lives, is not entirely a bad move.

”There is a case to made that having a Chinese company have access to the location of the 800 million users or so, and the sort of stuff you could potentially learn from that is concerning," he says. "But is it any worse than companies like Facebook or all their friends that are tracking you? I mean that information is probably already out there.”

Professor Rozema says China is deepening the rift in the global internet.

“By forcing companies to either be in China or not allowing companies to communicate past the great firewall of China, that means that billions of people on the planet are walled off from us," he says. "So I’m really concerned that China’s not letting folks install U.S. apps, so that's a rift they’re creating in the global internet. It sort of breaks part of what’s great about it -- that people all over the world can talk."

Michigan Hype House is a collective account on TikTok. They have more that 100 followers and over 2 million likes. But they say they sense of community they get from TikTok is unlike the experience they have found on other social media platforms. 

“I’ve been using social media for years and years, Instagram, Facebook whatever, but TikTok has a very specific kind of like community. I’ve met a lot of friends and a lot of people that I talk to daily that I've met through TikTok that I am friends with in real life now, people from all over the county. On other apps you don’t really find that.”

Marcy Creevy is a 16-year-old 'TikTok star' from Zeeland, Michigan. Her account has gained more than 7 million likes on the content that she created when she was bored in the house, especially during the covid-19 shutdown. 

“I started out definitely before quarantine and I started off with a couple thousand followers and then during quarantine I kept getting more bored so I kept creating more videos and more content and it kind of just skyrocketed from there," she says. "TikTok is definitely a source of entertainment for so many especially my age. I’ve heard a lot of my friends say this is such a bummer, but I’m just gonna keep creating content as much as I can.”

While the young stars and fans of TikTok may easliy adapt to a new platform to watch those dance and cooking videos, social media experts say this current Tik Tok war is something to pay attention to.

Ginny Seyferth is the president and founder of Seyferth PR.  She says parents should be paying close attention to what their young kids are watching on apps like TikTok, but also be aware of who is watching us. 

“This is a warning to me to say who is watching If you’re bringing a device into your house or you’re putting it on your phone, who is watching," she says. "I mean, I think its super fun, but I just think it's something to watch as parents when your fifth grander is using TikTok and so the question is what information is being absorbed. And I think this decision by the government needs to be watched a little bit deeper. This is a new thing for us.”

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