TikTok: Lawmakers are trying to ban the platform, but it’s part of our culture now

CNN  —  Gabby Beckford’s plan to visit the British Virgin Islands started with a flurry of searches on what to wear, eat and do in between exploring the islands’ pristine

beaches and sapphire waters. But instead of using Google or other search engines, she turned to TikTok. “On TikTok, I can search what restaurants to go to, I can see what people

ate and their reaction to the food,” says Beckford, 27, who’s visiting the British territory in the Caribbean this week. “I can see what they’re wearing, what the

weather’s like.” Beckford, a travel content creator who splits her time between Seattle and Washington, DC, says TikTok has become a lifeline for her and many other users. She

says the short-form video platform is much more than cat videos and posts by “influencers.” To her it’s a one-stop shop for a wide range of content, from mental health advice

to product reviews, all presented in bite-sized clips that don’t require plowing through blocks of text. “It’s visual,” she says. “I can tell who posted the content, and

whether it’s done with me in mind.” Beckford’s devotion to TikTok illustrates why US lawmakers and others, who view the platform as a security threat because of its parent

company’s roots in China, will have a challenge trying to scrub it from Americans’ digital lives. In recent weeks more than a dozen US states and the US House of

Representatives have banned TikTok from government devices. One US congressman, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, called it “digital fentanyl” because of its addictive nature among

young users and believes it should be blocked across the United States. Some universities also are restricting access to the app. But with more than 1 billion global users, TikTok

may be too entrenched in our culture to be shut down. It was the most-downloaded app in the United States last year, and its users say its platform is much more than teens watching

viral dance or cute animal videos. It’s become a critical tool for content creators, small business owners and many others who have made TikTok an integral part of their lives.

Avid TikTok users tell CNN they’re not spending sleepless nights worrying about the app’s ties to China and whether it poses security risks. They are more concerned about what

they say would be lost in a world without TikTok: business income, entrepreneurial opportunities and a platform – built around short, creative and informational videos – where

they can express themselves and connect with others. TikTok has exploded in numerous ways since its international debut in 2017. It now hosts videos on almost every topic under the