Paige Abbott, a political science student at American University has been a TikTok user for some time now.

‍ “I don't understand how data gets out and about, but I know that I have a lot of data out and about, and universities also, like, we have a lot of data out and about. So I think it's coming from a place of politics,” said Abbott.   

She thinks the app may in general be causing problems when it comes to productivity of students but putting a ban on it may not be ideal. 

‍“I work at a high school and I worked at elementary schools, and honestly, TikTok can be used for productive outlets, but I think the majority of the users of TikTok on devices is like a time waster, to be honest,” added Abbott. 

Another American University student Maya Cederland said, “I honestly don't really see the point in them banning it just because I think people can get around that with the VPN.”  

TikTok has been banned from college campuses in many states. Montana became the first US state to pass legislation banning Tiktok on all personal devices.It is also banned on any government issued devices.

Deon Washington works for the Federal government and is also an influencer. He has around 140k followers on TikTok. “I work for the government, and I do know that the Federal government has banned TikTok. Like, if you have any federal device, phone, type of iPad or anything, then you can't access TikTok on that as well.”

Deon  said he is more of a TikTok user than posting videos of his own.He said that he gets to learn a lot from TikTok videos more than on any other type of platform. 
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Recently President Joe Biden’s administration demanded that the Chinese-owned video app be sold or face an outright ban in the United States.  As Deon was watching the hearing on TikTok he thought the lawmakers are trying to control information flow through news on social apps. when they cannot, they are coming up with bans.

 “I don't think it really has to do with us. I think it's more so protecting them, protecting people above us. They don't want to look like the bad guys,” said the influencer.

Deon says TikTok is a source of news for him.  He got to know about the ban and about Russia-Ukraine invasion on TikTok.

 “I had no idea about things going on in Brazil, things going on in Russia. There are people in Russia that are posting videos on TikTok about what's going on, and it gives you just different perspectives of things versus being fed things directly from the American news,” said Deon.

“TikTok itself is not available in mainland China, we’re headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we have 7,000 employees in the U.S. today,”

Shou Chew, CEO, TikTok

Professor Aram Sinnreich of American University thinks, the lawmakers don't understand the business of data.

“The reality is that a lot of these lawmakers don't really understand how the technology industry works. They don't really understand the business of data, but they do know that it's a cause of concern for their constituents,” he said.

A week before the hearing the Chinese government said the U.S. has yet to present evidence that the app threatens national security.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference that was covered by the Associated Press, the spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "Data security should not be used by a certain country to abuse the national security concept and state power to suppress foreign companies. The U.S. has yet to present evidence that TikTok threatens its national security. The U.S. should stop spreading disinformation about data security, stop unreasonably suppressing the relevant company and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses to invest and operate in the U.S."

Last november, the Biden administration banned China's communication tech companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE saying they pose "an unacceptable risk" to U.S. national security. 

Saiyedul islam is a PhD student in China. He works as a foreign correspondent in China  for a news channel in Bangladesh. 

“Chinese people think that the USA is trying to ban TikTok like Huawei. The USA doesn't want that China be a number one in the technology, science and technology field or communication field. Because before they also gave sanction on Huawei,” said the correspondent. 

Islam says Chinese people think the congressional hearing was funny. “They think there is a lack of the Congressman has lack of information about TikTok. So they made some funny videos about the hearing on social media like Chinese social media,” added Islam. 

The bipartisan grilling of the company’s CEO with lawmakers accusing TikTok of serving Beijing sensitive data on U.S. citizens was seen as supporting the biden administration’s demand for the ban. But now lawmakers, legal and national security experts suggest that a ban may simply face too many hurdles to ever work.  

Professor Aram Sinnreich of American University said, " TikTok is not doing anything illegal. They are certainly behaving unethically. They are behaving in ways that might be a threat to national security. But because we don't have data privacy laws or international treaties, there is no basis upon which for Congress to limit the First Amendment rights of Americans and the companies that they do business with."

As the flagship app is on the verge of getting banned in the US, Bytedance has already rolled out a new app, Lemon 8 which is getting popularity quickly. 

Should college campuses ban TikTok?