The Irony of Trump’s Decision to Ban TikTok

It’s totally because of China…not any other reason.

In the past week, President Trump and the Supreme Court have announced that they’re considering banning the social media platform TikTok in the U.S. The alleged reason is that it’s a Chinese-owned app and the app is stealing all of its users’ data.

But that’s probably not the real reason.

India banned the app last week (along with other Chinese apps) because it was a “threat to sovereignty and integrity.”

Trump hates TikTok apparently because it’s stealing our data. No, wait, there’s a mistake there — it’s stealing Gen Z data, the generation that has the most active users on the platform.

And funny — Gen Z doesn’t have much data to hide, considering the majority of them are minors. What TikTok isn’t taking, the women’s clothing empire Shein certainly will.

Censoring the media is a bad look for Trump, for two reasons.

TikTokers don’t like him

Trump’s Tulsa rally was a ginormous flop because TikTokers collectively reserved seats that were never actually filled. The Wiggles concert had higher attendance than his rally.

That’s embarrassing for the president of the United States. Maybe for Camila Cabello, it would be understandable. But POTUS? Not POTUS.

Not to mention TikTok users have been flooding Trump’s app and feedback surveys with negative comments.

It just seems like his decision to ban the app is more personal than it should be when you’re running a country.

In a twist of irony, it’s a hypocritical move

Being so anti-communist, Trump should hate the fact that China censors media left and right.

Now he wants to censor media here (but just left).

Experts agree that TikTok isn’t a national security threat because its CEO is an American citizen and former CEO of Disney. At this point, any “danger is largely hypothetical,” with some analysts “arguing the situation is a reflection of the [Trump] administration’s political priorities.”

Is there a real chance that it’s dangerous for Americans to use TikTok, and that it’s more than just a social media app or consumer experience? Perhaps. But the younger generations, who have made themselves loud and clear in favor of the app, couldn’t care less.