College Students Unhappy With US Restrictions On TikTok
BOSTON (CBS) - TikTok, the Chinese video sharing app has more than 100 million users in the US For many, it is addicting.
"It grabs your attention makes you stay there and want to watch it and keep coming back," said Cayleigh Pine, an Emerson student.
Students at Emerson College are worried about restrictions put on the app on Friday by the Trump Administration.
"I'm happy that I have it. I knew there was a possibility a few weeks ago, so I'm not super surprised. I figured something like this would happen, but I am upset," said Alyssa Frey, another Emerson student.
Starting September 20, Chinese owned TikTok and WeChat will no longer be available for download from app stores.
The Commerce Department, citing national security and privacy, says, "Today's actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party."
TikTok will still work for those who already have it until early November. The company says it will continue to fight what it calls an "unjust executive order."
"I do believe the administration is taking the right course of action here in trying to limit the access to the data, specifically our citizens privacy," said social media expert David Richard.
Richard says apps like TikTok are technically free, but that you pay for them with your personal information.
"So the concern here is having mass access to a massive number of US citizens that you might be able to activate them in some way to vote a certain way or buy a certain product or to boycott a certain product," said Richard.
A deal between TikTok and California based Oracle for control over US users data could prevent any changes to the app.
