I need you to consider three burning questions that don’t have easy solutions:
Do you have to simply maintain utilizing TikTok as if nothing occurred?
I am undecided that we have ever been in a scenario fairly like this apart from Prohibition. A product that is utilized by roughly half of People is basically unlawful because it presently exists (or might be quickly).
Certain, different merchandise exist in a authorized grey space. Most e-cigarettes and weed that People purchase are usually not permitted by the federal government or are downright in opposition to the legislation. A few of you with tinted automobile home windows are breaking the legislation.
With TikTok, although, you at the moment are in a surreal second during which the federal authorities says TikTok is a menace to People and to the nation’s nationwide safety, however it’s additionally not telling you to dump the app.
“We’re not saying that we don’t want People to make use of TikTok,” the White Home press secretary stated Wednesday, simply after the president signed a legislation declaring that TikTok can’t exist in its present type in the USA.
Whether or not you or your kids use TikTok is now a private selection.
I think about that most individuals will maintain utilizing (or not utilizing) TikTok simply the best way they did earlier than. Besides now you face the looming threat that the app might disappear someday months or years from now.
The White Home says it desires TikTok to promote to a non-Chinese language proprietor as an alternative of being banned in the USA.
Will a sale occur and to whom? (Insert shrug emoji.)
TikTok stated it should problem the brand new legislation in court docket. Possibly within the subsequent few months (or years), courts will declare the TikTok compelled sale or ban unconstitutional. Possibly they’ll say it’s constitutionally kosher.
Possibly the authorized case will take years to resolve. TikTok and individuals who use the app will stay in limbo your entire time.
Possibly Donald Trump might be elected president later this yr and can attempt to cease a compelled sale or ban of TikTok.
Possibly some wealthy dude or Walmart will sweep in to guide a purchase order of TikTok — with or with out the key pc code that tailors movies to every individual’s tastes.
Possibly China’s authorities will attempt to cease that from occurring.
Possibly Earth will get clobbered by a large asteroid.
What occurs subsequent with TikTok is unpredictable. Don’t belief anybody who confidently predicts what’s going to occur.
Will the federal government attempt to ban different fashionable applied sciences from China?
American officers haven’t made public particular proof of why they consider TikTok poses such a dire risk of Chinese language knowledge harvesting and propaganda.
In addition they haven’t informed you the way a lot you must or shouldn’t fear about different applied sciences from China.
Is it protected so that you can store on Shein and Temu, two broadly used apps that originated from China?
Is it dangerous so that you can personal a pc from Chinese language firm Lenovo or a Motorola smartphone additionally from Lenovo? Ought to your child maintain taking part in the online game “League of Legends,” which is managed by Chinese language tech large Tencent?
Is it okay that almost all our smartphones and different electronics are made in Chinese language factories?
Will the federal government maintain out electrical automobiles or smartphones from Chinese language manufacturers which might be reasonably priced and fashionable in some nations apart from the USA?
TikTok could also be a singular threat, given what number of People use the app and get info and information from an app managed by a Chinese language firm.
However once more, American officers haven’t been upfront with you about the place the road is likely to be between harmful and acceptable applied sciences from China.
