Arjun Manjunath has been making content on TikTok since 2020, using the income he has made from the app鈥檚 Creator Fund to support his tuition and pay his rent. With the recent uncertainty surrounding the app鈥檚 future, Manjunath said, 鈥渢he switch to other apps feels bittersweet.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 taking this ban very close to heart,鈥 Manjunath, a senior marketing major, said. 鈥淸TikTok] is literally my career.鈥
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump pausing the ban on TikTok for 75 days. Following a 14-hour blackout, professors and student content creators spoke about the ban鈥檚 social and personal implications.
Michael Madison, a Pitt law professor, said TikTok is 鈥渦nusually powerful because of its widespread use, especially by younger generations.鈥 He described how the Supreme Court settled this case because of concern for national security.聽
鈥淭here is a concern that ByteDance is extracting user data from TikTok in the U.S.,鈥 Madison said, 鈥渁nd then filtering the data back to China, where presumably it would be shared with the Chinese government.鈥澛
that ByteDance could collect data on American users through the app and that the Chinese government could control what content viewers see to influence public opinion. While Congress is concerned about national security, the extent to which TikTok is a national security threat is . TikTok it has never shared user data with the Chinese government.
Brenton Malin, a communications professor at Pitt, said the U.S. government could also potentially be worried about the effects of social media on younger generations.聽
鈥淚 think TikTok in the U.S. is an easier target than some of the other social media companies because of its associations with China,鈥 Malin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about national security and protecting the U.S. from Chinese influence.鈥
Despite ByteDance claiming that banning TikTok violated the First Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled to keep the ban in place on Jan. 17. Madison said that the government can legally interfere with free speech with 鈥渁n extraordinarily good reason.鈥
鈥淭he First Amendment does not say no limitations on free speech may happen at all,鈥 Madison said. 鈥淭he Supreme Court is trying to balance national security with freedom of expression.鈥
For 14 hours on Jan. 18 and 19, American users were unable to access the TikTok app until it returned with a message reading 鈥淭hanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump鈥檚 efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.鈥 As of Jan. 20, American users can access TikTok normally, with no apparent issues, though the app is still not available for download on the Google and Apple app stores. Users also can鈥檛 or make in-app purchases.
, claiming he will 鈥渟ave TikTok.鈥 As president in 2020, Trump because he was concerned about the app鈥檚 national security impacts.聽
Madison said Trump does not have the legal power to save TikTok indefinitely.聽
鈥淭he President doesn鈥檛 have the omnipotent power to build, rescue or change things that they don鈥檛 like,鈥 Madison said. Unless ByteDance decides to sell to an American company, the ban will stay in effect.聽
With the results of the ban starting to take effect, content creators on campus like Manjunath are unsure of what鈥檚 next. He said he has used the content-creating experience he got using TikTok to start a career as a content creator, working with the University to make content and interning at TikTok鈥檚 New York headquarters.
鈥淭hose opportunities wouldn鈥檛 be possible if it wasn鈥檛 for social media,鈥 Manjunath said. 鈥淚鈥檓 fortunate enough to have a social media following on other platforms.鈥
While Manjunath plans to continue his online career on sites such as Instagram and YouTube, other creators such as Cat Flood, a graduate student and former Pitt volleyball player, aren鈥檛 sure what鈥檚 next for them on social media.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 having a hard time believing that they鈥檙e taking the whole app down,鈥 Flood said.
Flood gained 49,000 followers after she started making dance videos with her teammates at the start of Pitt鈥檚 women鈥檚 volleyball season.
鈥淗onestly, I didn鈥檛 even expect any of [my videos] to blow up in the first place,鈥 Flood said. 鈥淚鈥檓 known as 鈥榯he Pitt volleyball player鈥 online and I鈥檓 pretty much done with my last season. So I don鈥檛 really know what鈥檚 going to happen in terms of my following. But if there鈥檚 an opportunity for me to get paid for posting stuff on other apps, then that鈥檚 great.鈥
Although some TikTok users may turn to other social media apps with short-form videos, Pitt communications professor Samuel Woolley argues that 鈥渢here is no app that mirrors exactly what TikTok does.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 concerned that young people in particular will lose a critical platform for sharing their opinions and their voice when TikTok is gone,鈥 Woolley said. 鈥淚 think that younger generations are going to be left without a native space online.鈥