The World Would Be Better without TikTok—But Is That a Reason To Ban It?

The U.S. is threatening to ban the videoclip platform. It’s an idea that even a liberal can agree with.

Do you have teenage children or grandchildren? If so, read the headlines about TikTok that are coming out of the U.S., and not just with the eye of a political observer. Congress is debating a ban of the videoclip app. It belongs to a Chinese corporation but has become one of the most beloved social media platforms among young people in the West, too.

TikTok’s algorithm is perfidiously genius: it makes consuming videos addictive. The app does it by immediately delivering the next film after one clip, then another, and another. Young people end up staring passively at their cell phones for hours. Among adults, TikTok has made us dumber than any other platform in human history. Those who fall victim to it miss out on life. TikTok is not of use to anyone except to the few influencers who use it to make money.

Of course, that’s not the reason why the U.S. is considering a ban. It has security concerns that the Chinese are using the app to spy on and influence Americans. There is no evidence for this.

But there is plenty of evidence from daily life that TikTok is harming an entire generation. Liberals aware of TikTok’s diabolism who find themselves thinking, “ban it!” don’t need to worry. Bans for protecting youth are by all means liberal. After all, drugs aren’t allowed, either. The world would be better without TikTok.