Kushi Maridu

Despite the growing threat of gun violence and other prevalent issues in everyday life , the government chooses to focus on a TikTok ban.

In a time of increased political polarity, a new bill, RESTRICT Act, was introduced by both Democrats and Republicans in a united effort to ban TikTok due its privacy concerns and connections with China. RESTRICT, standing for Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology, is not only supported by both political parties, but also by the White House. If passed, the act will give the Secretary of Commerce the power to ban any app with over a million users that they believe might be controlled by a foreign “adversary.” 

On March 23, 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Chew was bombarded with questions during a Congressional meeting on the viral app’s connections to China and security threats. The Congress spent their entire time talking about how they want to ban TikTok without actually providing any valid proof.

Chew was questioned by 52 Congress members who were asking irrelevant and ignorant questions for over 5 hours. Among some of the topics they brought up was the spreading of misinformation on TikTok. Misinformation, in reality, can be spread by any social media platform.

One of the obtuse questions posed by Indiana’s Rep. Greg Pence was, “When am I gonna get paid for the data that you are getting?” Another one of the questions was vapidly asked by North Carolina’s Rep. Richard Hudson. “Mr. Chew, does TikTok access the home WiFi network?” Hudson interrogated.

The absurdity of this questioning reached a high when Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter asked, “Tell me the number of US children that have died from these [TikTok] challenges.”

This question highlights the hypocrisy of the American government.

In the US, gun violence accounted for 19% of children deaths in 2021, with nearly 3,600 kids dying from gun-related events. Although TikTok challenges may have killed many innocent kids, there is no way that the total number even surpasses the number of deaths in 2021 due to gun violence.

Here’s what Carter’s website says about gun control: “Efforts to expand gun control and restrict access to legal gun use have proven ineffective in reducing crime.  In fact, they leave guns in the hand of criminals while leaving ordinary, honest, law-abiding citizens defenseless. We can reduce crime by holding criminals accountable for their actions, not by adding unnecessary layers of gun control.”

If Carter really did care about US children’s deaths, he would be advocating for tighter gun laws, not banning a relatively harmless app.

What is more dumbfounding is the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are coming together for the supposed “threat” posed by TikTok rather than addressing issues far more significant and pressing.

Senior Tejus Kanathur, a student of AP US Government and Politics, believes that this unison is due to TikTok being an outside threat. “Members of government, particularly those conducting the TikTok hearing, can be inept at using technology and don’t understand its true nature. Because both parties perceive TikTok to be dangerous to the youth and China to be using TikTok against America, they have come together. Maybe if they came together for more pressing matters, America would have a lesser death toll,” Kanathur shared. 

Kanathur’s claim on the death toll is reflected in national data. Just by the end of April 2023 alone, over 160 mass shootings have taken place, which means more than one shooting happened each day since this year started. More than 10 shootings a week and politicians bat a blind eye to this plague.

Even this past month, many innocents were killed as a result of gun violence. A 20-year-old woman was shot and killed because she accidentally pulled into the wrong driveway. A black teenager was shot, thankfully not killed, in the head because he accidentally knocked on the wrong door.

School lockdowns are also becoming more prevalent day by day. This month, both University of Oklahoma and Northwestern University, among others, experienced emergency alerts because of an active shooter. Even our own Pleasant Valley High School received a shooting threat this month, sending many students in a state of fear that seems all too normalized.

Senior Deen Nair chose to skip school for the time period when the Pleasant Valley threat was posed and has a brother that was on the Northwestern University campus when the shooting took place. 

“I felt mixed emotions both times. I was particularly more angry than scared at the fact that these shootings are becoming such a common occurrence, disrupting and scaring daily life. And, time and time again, the government fails to take the proper measures to counter it,” Nair exclaimed. “The government is focused on the wrong things—instead of addressing the things that directly kill people, like guns, they find ways to persuade the public that seemingly harmless things, like TikTok, are a bigger concern. Again, it makes me more angry, but also scared for the future of our country.”

Nair’s anger is justified; despite gun violence and threats being a major issue in the United States, the government continues to evade taking action. It is extremely ironic that a government, supposedly fixated on ensuring the safety of its people, would go as far as banning a social media app that over 150 million Americans use, yet remains hesitant to take concrete steps towards shielding its people from the deadly effects of gun violence.

Gun control is not the only mess that has yet to be addressed. Climate change, income inequality and healthcare reform have headlined for decades, only to be consistently under-addressed by the government. 

The TikTok ban being at the forefront of the government’s agenda over other pressing concerns makes many citizens lose faith in the future of their country.

“It’s disturbing how banning a social media platform has become such a pressing and bipartisan concern for the government. I suppose it’s easier for the government to be united on an outside threat like China. Yet with gun violence becoming so common it’s almost normalized, it’s shameful that the U.S. government can’t take decisive action to address a terrible, internal issue,” Kanathur continued.

Whatever the reasons may be, it is evident that the American government’s priorities are severely misplaced. Instead of focusing on issues that pose actual threats to Americans, politicians have chosen to divert focus to a social media platform that has brought entertainment and eased communication to millions. 

“I’ve never felt threatened by anything on TikTok but I’ve had my fair share of gun threat scares. I feel like the same could be said about most of our citizens,” Nair concluded.

The failure to confront gun violence and other pressing concerns is a stain on the American government’s credibility. It is high time that politicians prioritize the lives of their constituents by taking concrete action to tackle real threats that claim the lives of innocent Americans every day, rather than using them as bargaining chips for political gain.