I truly think the government should not ban TikTok.
TikTok has been instrumental in the spreading of awareness of important topics such as mental health, sexuality, equality, racism, disabilities, and more. I say this because TikTok actually teaches you a lot. It brings you joy, you make new friends, you can make money, and you can even have emotional support from people all around the world if you are going through something.
TikTok is the most highly addictive of all social media platforms. Banning TikTok would also affect the livelihood of countless small-business owners and educators. A ban of TikTok would eliminate an important place for Americans to speak and be heard. It would be a travesty for the free speech rights of hundreds of millions of Americans who depend on the app to communicate, express themselves, and even make a living.
Kojo Sarfo, MD, a mental health nurse practitioner and psychotherapist with more than 1.9 million followers on TikTok, credits the app with creating spaces where those with mental health conditions can feel that they belong. This connection is especially important for communities where mental health is rarely talked about.
One of the main benefits of talking about mental health on TikTok is that users are exposed to people with different conditions, says Peter Wallerich-Neils, known as Peter Hyphen to his more than 416,000 followers on TikTok, where he initially began posting to discuss his diagnosis with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“It’s kind of holding a mirror up to themselves and they can realize, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t realize that this is something that I thought only I dealt with and ‘I am part of this community that I didn’t even know existed’,” he said.
All of these are examples of why TikTok shouldn’t be banned and what TikTok actually does to help people all over the world. It is a great feeling and great experience when people get platforms and get famous from either something they’re dealing with or just their personality.