The app everyone loves, where businesses flourish and ideas collide, will soon come to an end. In recent months, countries such as the US and Canada made efforts to restrict access to one of the most widely used video apps: Tiktok. Lawmakers across the world found themselves concerned about the security of their country.

The White House told federal agencies Sunday, February 26 that in 30 days, they must delete the app from government devices. Countries including Great Britain, Canada and France have taken the initiative to ban the app from government devices. Tuesday April 4, Australia became the latest country to announce that it prohibited TikTok on government devices. 

“I would be very upset if they banned TikTok and I think countries’ reasoning is not valid. If they’re worried about TikTok getting our information, why aren’t they worried about Facebook and Instagram? I know many people with businesses; most of their clientele is from TikTok. TikTok has allowed people to express themselves and I think it should stay,” junior Elijah Holloway said.

Lawmakers and regulators raised their concerns that Tiktok and its parent company would receive sensitive user data from the country and that the Chinese government would obtain that information. They also worried that China could use TikTok’s content recommendations for misinformation. Moreover, countries know how much information users release on the internet every day and they do not trust the Chinese government to obtain access to high-tech information. TikTok has denied such allegations and tried to distance itself from ByteDance.

Since November 2022, over two dozen states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices and several colleges such as the University of Texas at Austin, Auburn University, and Boise State University have blocked it from campus Wi-Fi networks. Montana legislators this month approved a bill to ban TikTok in the state. Lawmakers in other states know the challenges they will face when trying to ban this app and that they will have to take this issue to court. Much like national leaders in the United States, Montana’s politicians believe that TikTok collects data against users’ will. If the bill becomes law effective January 2024, it will impose fines on TikTok and app store owners for allowing downloads. Montana follows a movement around the United States to try to keep Americans from using TikTok. 

“I think it is a top priority and we need to move with urgency. It’s more than one company and it is a constant pervasive threat and we need the permanent tools properly funded with expertise. I’ve put over 200 Chinese companies on the entity list in my tenure. We are actively, constantly investigating additional threats and if and as we think companies need to go onto the list, I will not hesitate,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.