Potential TikTok ban upsetting influencers, fans
Potential TikTok ban upsetting influencers, fans
With the controversial app possibly going away Sunday, SU students are reeling at the possibility of losing access to their community and creative self-expression.

If you’re on TikTok – which statistically you probably are – you’ve probably seen the countless videos summarizing the potential ban of our most beloved app.
Ironically, many users are getting their news about the app’s alleged upcoming ban on TikTok itself. In 2024, about 4 in 10 young adults got their news from TikTok, and regularly.
So it’s no surprise that when SU students wind down at night, get comfortable in bed and gear up for their before-bed TikTok scroll, their FYP (For-You Page) is filled with videos about the potential ban.
SU sophomore Spencer Howard is known by many on campus as one of the “Pumpkin” kids. This is in reference to a viral TikTok video from early Nov. 2024 of Howard and his friend John Spina saying “Pumpkin” repeatedly in the silence of Bird Library.
Although Howard gets the majority of his news outside of TikTok, he finds that the news about the potential ban is hard to avoid.
“I have now posted like seven videos with the #TikTokBan and I actively search on the app for it so I think the algorithm has put it all on my For-You Page,” Howard said. “Every 10 scrolls there’s a ‘Breaking News’ about the ban but it’s something I already knew and it’s not breaking and there’s nothing confirmed.”
But why was TikTok placed on the chopping block in the first place? And how will it impact students like Howard and Spina who are micro and macroinfluencers?
The case: TikTok v. Merrick Garland
Put simply, the U.S. Justice Department argued that TikTok is a threat to national security because of lawmakers’ concern that as a foreign-owned app, Americans’ data is not secure.
Under a bill that President Biden signed in April 2024 called The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), the government can ban apps from mobile app stores like the Apple and Google Play store.
Howard is frustrated with the concern for data security because he feels like the policy surrounding it is not being applied evenly.
“I feel like there’s no consistency across policy about that,” Howard said. “Like Meta, they also sell our data. I really don’t see an issue with TikTok owning my data personally.”
TikTok argued that the 170 million U.S. users’ First Amendment right to free speech is under threat with the banning of TikTok.
Howard admits that although TikTok is a form of free speech, it’s not necessarily the most effective.
“The free speech argument is such a strong point I feel passionate about because TikTok has been so mobilizing for our generation, especially around political issues so I feel like taking that away is the equivalent of limiting the press,” Howard said.
On Jan. 14, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey introduced a bill to extend the TikTok ban date should it face a ban, as well as attempt to delay the deadline – Jan. 19 – that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese-based owner, must sell it.
In Sen. Markey’s remarks, he said, “These communities cannot be replicated on another app. A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process.”
Markey also clarified the consequences of banning TikTok for users who rely on it for their economic livelihood.
If ByteDance does not sell its U.S. operations by Jan. 19, the ban will take effect, but Markey’s efforts quickly circulated TikTok as a communal ‘thank goodness’ that the app may have more time under its belt.
What does the ban mean?
TikTok’s banning from the U.S. would not mean that all users see the app disappear from their home screens on Sunday. Rather, it would remove TikTok from app stores, and prevent downloadable updates to current owners, meaning TikTok cannot fix bugs or other problems with updates.
SU students’ feelings on a potential TikTok ban

For students like Howard, who use TikTok heavily and create content for their audience – in his case, an audience of 11.4K followers – the possibility of a TikTok ban is very upsetting, as it’s a mode of self-expression.
“I feel like it’s motivation to keep being myself,” Howard said. “Having numbers behind your genuine self makes you feel more inclined to putting yourself out there.”
Howard also believes the potential banning of TikTok will have hard effects on SU’s campus.
“Since we’re so communications-driven because of Newhouse, and because of our campus culture, I think it’s [a TikTok ban] going to be a lot more devastating for our school than a school that doesn’t have as large of a communications focus,” Howard said.
If TikTok does see its end, where will all the users go?
Howard has been directing his followers to his Instagram and his and Spina’s YouTube channel in case of a ban. He also thinks Instagram Reels can be a possible alternative.
“There’s a possibility that we would go to Instagram Reels but the whole appeal of TikTok is the TikTok-specific algorithm and Instagram doesn’t have that,” Howard said.
On Friday at 10 a.m., after days of lawmakers pushing to extend the deadline, SCOTUS ruled to uphold the law requiring TikTok’s selling from ByteDance or banning it by Jan. 19.
For now, TikTokers are awaiting a decision that could alter their daily media usage, and for many, strip them of the communities they’ve built on the app.