TikTok, an app that has been the source of controversy for years now due to the nature of its content and the Chinese influence behind the scenes, might be on the Congressional chopping block.

The banning of this app has been discussed for some time in court circuits and political agendas, and for good reasons as well. The largest concern when it comes to this app is simple: privacy and safety of the American people’s information. The app is owned by a Chinese internet company called ByteDance, a company that through TikTok is stealing our information.

Banning this app is justified, as it breaches the privacy of American citizens, and privacy is a Constitutional right of the American people, a right that our government should be fighting to protect. The ban is a government act meant to protect the people and serve the greater good of the country.

This ban is not meant as a way to control the people. Rather, it is meant to keep us safe from foreign powers who would seek to harm us.

While there are those who  believe that this is an infringement of our liberties and an attempt to quell some voices, this act is in no way meant to silence anyone.

TikTok is not an American brand, but it is not run with the best interest of our people in mind. This app is being used as a way to siphon away information from citizens.

The removal of TikTok does not truly reduce our way of spreading our voices either; many different platforms still exist to share our views, platforms with lighter restrictions on speech as it is.

Other companies and social media platforms that exist, while they are still accused of using and selling your information, many of them are owned by American people and companies. While information privacy still stands as a concern with other apps, banning TikTok would be a massive first step toward securing our information.

Banning TikTok also isn’t as simple as just getting rid of the app. ByteDance has been offered an ultimatum: sell TikTok to an American business or lose all of its costumers in the U.S. entirely. Bringing the company onto American soil would take it out of the hands of the Chinese and also allow for the government to better see what information goes in and out and regulate the flow of information that the app creates.

On top of concerns of safety, this bill is also a bipartisan act–not just a political move by one side–performed by both sides of our government to protect its people, doing its job as defined by the people.

In a day when everything seems to be divided on our political scales, seeing a bill go into our government and not be split based on parties is rare and strange. Banning this app is meant to protect the American people by keeping our personal information out of the hands of one of our greatest enemies on the international stage.

Putting the security of the people first. Protecting the citizens and the country. This is the job of our government.

Banning a single app may not seem like something that falls under that umbrella, but in the wrong hands, information is an immensely powerful weapon capable of bringing a nation to its knees.

Keeping valuable data about our citizens away from the Chinese super power–0that’s what the ban is about.

Protecting the Constitutional right of privacy and promoting safety for the American people is why this bill should pass. This ban is not an infringement of speech but a way to protect it.

TikTok has many restrictive guidelines, and often times, more controversial ideas that may upset others are removed from  the platform. This point adds even more fuel to the fire of either getting rid of the app or bringing it into American hands. Protect our privacy and allow us to speak our minds.

The app either needs to be sold to the U.S. or banned from our nation; this is the best way to protect the American people from having its information stolen and weaponized by a foreign power.

Please see opposing view here.