Hello nail techs! Have you been impacted by the shut down from Tik Tok? Let us have a talk shall we.
If you haven’t heard Tik Tok has been shut down by the American federal government. The government enacted a law that on January 19th, the app will be shut down, as they believe the app is a threat to national security, because of its ties to China. U.S officials have said that the app could be used as a spy to look into peoples lives, and also persuade the public positively or negatively, by showing or limiting certain content.
Because of its use of need for integration in your phone, the app is asking for permission to your call records, GPS location, text messaging, and more. These requirements are unnecessary and can give out too much information to companies. Not only posing a threat to national security, but your very own. Remember that this information is all just accusations, and no proof has been found. To ease Americans fears, a law was passed in 2022 to safeguard and protect Americans data.
What does this mean for you? Well, every time we download an app we are agreeing to their terms and conditions. We are agreeing to let the app infuse in our phone and grant them permission to do certain actions such as collect data. What do Americans seem to think about this? I honestly don’t think they care. I think the government cares as they are trying to protect the people, as they should. However, is this is as impactful as we are making it seem? I am not sure. And I am not trying to come off nonchalant about the whole thing. I am just implying that if 170 million people were using this app. Then that is 170 million people who aren’t too concerned.
But what I do know is that the app has been shut done of this writing, Jan 19th. But not even hours later it is already coming back up. And how is that? President Donald Trump. Donald Trump was one of the first people to criticize the app and get more on board that it is a dangerous app. But now that he is becoming president again for 2025, he has announced he will try to give the law an extension of 90 days, to allow the owners of the app, Bytedance to find another approved buyer so that it is U.S owned.
Will this happen? I am not sure. But I am sure that millions of content creators no longer have a job. Some of my nail tech friends don’t have an income anymore because they can’t access the app. So hopefully it does come back up and allow people to continue to make content. This is a strong source of income for a ton of people, as they write product reviews, make fancy commercials, and give out new information on products and classes available.
We are in a digital age. Content creation is the new variation of an old newspaper editor or advertiser. Think about how huge and influential Facebook, X, and Instagram have been. People and businesses use these everyday to deliver information, share status, and give updates other lives People also look forward to finding reviews or looking into places to see how they can discover new things to try. Tik Tok was a huge platform, and now it’s uncertain of its future.
What will you do? Have you been impacted by Tik Tok in any way? Leave a comment below and let’s start a discussion. I would love to hear what you say. Until then, I’ll see you later sweets.
Citations:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-is-tiktok-being-banned-supreme-court-congress
https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-trump-biden-china-bdc79b7ce741a81761f67ea56d410103
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