The House of Representatives passed a bill March 13 that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner, ByteDance, doesn’t sell its stakes within six months of the bill’s enactment due to supposed national security risks. Yet, UCA students say they don’t have privacy concerns when using the app.

According to The New York Times, the bill passed 352 to 65 in a bipartisan vote and was created in response to the Biden administration’s and Republicans’ concerns that ByteDance tampers with user data and TikTok promotes pro-China propaganda. 

Godfrey Onuora, a sophomore majoring in computer information systems and minoring in creative writing, has 2.5 million followers on his TikTok account @damngodfrey.

He said, “Banning the app for good is kind of crazy. It’s wild.”

Onuora uses TikTok daily and said he doesn’t feel unsafe.

“It’s really fun to use. It’s beautiful. I learn things every day,” he said.

He said he consumes educational content, such as “different cultures, rich Black history, history among other minority and marginalized groups.”

“It’s a very powerful app, which I feel like that’s why they’re targeting it,” he said.

Leah Fimple, a sophomore majoring in theater and minoring in creative writing, said, “I don’t really see the big deal about it because it is just an app that a lot of people like to have contact with people across the world.”

She said, “I think it’s stupid that they’re caring more about that and not about other problems besides an app that they clearly don’t know how to use.”

Fimple said she does “not really” have any privacy concerns.

“I’ve never been like, ‘Oh, it’s spying on me,’” she said.

Clay Boyd, a freshman majoring in art education, said, “It’ll just snowball because I know these people, like Republicans and stuff, are notorious for setting this shit up and then snowballing it to ban other things.”

She said, “I’m concerned not about TikTok at all because that’s just a regular app. I’m concerned about what this will lead to because if they want to ban an app that’s not doing any harm, except to them, really, for spreading actual information — sometimes misinformation — but that’s like regular social media. But it’s doing more harm to politics, specifically Republican politics, so I’m thinking maybe they want to put this ban in place to loosen up that kind of guideline for other bans to be able to put in place, like the book ban.”

Anna Davis, a sophomore majoring in nursing and minoring in health promotion, said, “I do spend a lot of time on TikTok, so the ban would be good for me.”

She said she would use Netflix, YouTube and Instagram Reels as alternatives if TikTok were banned.

“That’s what I used before TikTok, so I guess it wouldn’t help as much because I would probably just go to a different thing,” she said. 

Davis said, “I’ve watched a little bit of them [TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew] in court. It doesn’t seem like they’re trying to hurt us. It’s just a platform.” 

Madelyn Neel, a freshman majoring in business, said, “If an American corporation buys it, I think it could be great. It could be a great platform, and maybe it would be good for the economy. I feel like we have a lot of issues with everything, and TikTok might just be the beginning of what they start to ban.”

She said, “I think there’s a good amount of false news that gets spread on TikTok, but there are some good educational ways that people learn stuff.”

Victoria Walter, a freshman majoring in creative writing and minoring in linguistics, said, “I see both sides. There’s definitely a lot of fake news on social media … I think it is a way for the American government to be like, ‘Oh, this is all bad because we learn so much through TikTok and social media.’ But like Madelyn said, it is probably going to be the first of many bans.”

Jacob Cox, a freshman majoring in music composition, said, “I stopped having TikTok a long time ago. But for me personally, I feel like it’s more of a good thing than it is bad. I feel like a lot of people get toxically addicted to it.”

He said, “I don’t really think it’s dangerous for privacy reasons. I think it’s possible that China could be invading our privacy, but I never felt unsafe.”

The bill still must pass in the Senate and be signed by the president to become law.