The Trump administration banned TikTok, a popular social media app, through an executive order in the United States on Sept. 15 deeming it a threat to national security.  

   President Donald Trump issued the executive order because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which is based in China and responsible for other worldwide applications, is allegedly selling user’s data to the Chinese government. 

   While India has already banned TikTok, the U.S and Australia could be next. Forbes Magazine says, “You’ll remember that the U.S. military has already banned TikTok from government-issued phones—and there is pressure to widen that significantly, all of which pales compared to India’s blanket ban and threats that Australia and—devastatingly for TikTok—the U.S. might follow suit.” There are ongoing investigations to determine if TikTok is in fact a danger to national security and to what extent it collects its user’s data. 

   If they were collecting data on its users, TikTok and its associates would have access to sensitive, personal information about many U.S citizens as well as an easy way to map out landscapes and buildings across the country.  

   In response, TikTok is suing the administration on account of depriving the company of its due process. Based on the NYtimes, a week after issuing the executive order to ban TikTok, the President issued a separate order which gives the company ByteDance 90 days to discard its American assets and any data that TikTok has gathered in the United States.  

   Many teenagers who spend hours every day scrolling on Tik Tok are upset at the ban because many found the app a positive, welcoming environment that helped them escape from the real world.  

   Dana John, a local teenager whose most recent video has 21,700 likes and 116,000 views and counting, says she spends about two hours every day on the app. Dana also explains how the ban would affect her, “I’d be really upset because it’s honestly my main form of entertainment during quarantine because I can never finish tv shows. If they’re going to ban it at least wait till quarantine is over.”  

   However, there is still hope for TikTok. Microsoft is looking to buy the app from ByteDance, they have confirmed multiple meetings and are looking to close the deal by Sept. 15 based on CNBC. If a third party does buy TikTok, it would eliminate the doubt that ByteDance is selling information to the Chinese government. President Trump responded explaining that he is not in favor of this deal and might be looking to ban TikTok altogether sometime in the future.   

   President Trump talked about banning TikTok from the United States in July which led to some teenagers going as far as downloading a separate app resembling TikTok to keep the fun going. Still, many teenagers and young adults are still worried about the future of TikTok because it makes up such a big part of their lives. As the ban date nears pressure is on.