If nothing changes, TikTok is set to be banned next month.
Now, the platform is appealing to the United States Supreme Court claiming that a ban would be a violation of the free speech of countless Americans.
The Gateway Pundit reported,
The popular video app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is currently scheduled to be banned nationwide on January 19th, 2025, just one day before Donald Trump takes office.
However, it has now filed a petition to the Supreme Court in a last ditch attempt to try and save its place in the valuable American media market after all its other legal attempts fell on deaf ears.
“The Act will shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration,” TikTok wrote in its petition. “This, in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern.”
As a conservative content creator that has used TikTok for years, this argument is highly ironic to me. Despite their newfound appreciation for freedom of speech, the platform has systematically censored conservative voices for years. Personally I have had to rebuild no less than six times following the complete deletion of my accounts for thought crimes like challenging the 2020 election, the official Covid narrative, or radical transgender ideology.
I am far from the only example of this. Every single content creator that I know who has had any success on TikTok has eventually been banned.
This censorship has become such common place that many creators lose track of how many accounts they have had to make. Each new permanent ban is just another casual Tuesday. Creators have begun to get numb to the inevitable as their accounts will surely be banned, the only question is when.
Cam Higby, had tremendous success on TikTok gaining an enormous number of views and over 1.5 million followers. Unfortunately, he has been banned more than 70 times. The censorship was so obvious that Cam received back to back bans with no new alleged violations. As soon as one ban would be lifted another would take its place before he could even post any new content.
screenshots of Cam’s ban notifications
When asked about the TikTok ban Cam said, “I do not support the TikTok ban, but I find it particularly ironic that TikTok claims to be fighting for the first amendment rights of 170 million Americans despite their flagrant political censorship. They went as far as to ban Donald Trump, while he was the President of the United States and didn’t even have an account on the app. The best twist of all is that Trump is pro-TikTok and now may be the app’s only saving grace.”
In addition to Cam, many other creators share a similar experience. The Older Millennial has had at least seven accounts banned, several without having a single violation against them.
My new account on @tiktok_us was just permanently banned with ZERO VIOLATIONS AGAIN!
Thats 7 accounts with no violations banned without warning in just two weeks. pic.twitter.com/YsQgNKkT8h
— The Older Millennial (@teameffujoe) October 15, 2024
If TikTok has had their road to Damascus moment, I will be happier than just about anyone. Over the years I have developed a love hate relationship with them. TikTok seems to have a unique algorithm that allows new creators to explode which has helped new voices grow. The catch is that the growth will inevitably be met with the complete deletion of your account.
Despite my personal grievances toward TikTok, I agree with President Trump’s desire to keep the app. Banning it would likely push their market share into the hands of Meta and other big tech platforms with a known record of interfering in American elections and colluding with the government to censor citizens.
If TikTok is saved by appealing to free speech, it should only be allowed to do so if it implements true free speech. Accounts should be returned to those who have been deplatformed and conservatives should enjoy equal opportunity as anyone else. If TikTok is going to talk the talk, they better walk the walk.
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