GSC members discuss possible TikTok ban’s impact on LGBTQIA+ community
Members of the University of Rhode Island’s Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) express concerns about a potential nation-wide ban on TikTok and the impacts it will have on marginalized communities.
The ban would result from a bipartisan bill called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, or RESTRICT Act.
According to NBC News, it “would give the secretary of commerce broad power to regulate tech produced by six countries that have adversarial relationships with the U.S.: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.”
Although the bill doesn’t explicitly mention TikTok, the NBC News article said that senators who introduced the bill mentioned fears that the app shares information about its users.
Annie Russell, director of the GSC, said she uses TikTok personally for enjoyment, funny videos and politics, but for the GSC, online platforms like TikTok have been a tool to build community.
“We try to be on all the social media platforms that students are on most often,” Russell said. “So we’ve got TikTok, we’ve got an Insta, we’ve got a Discord. We try to be in those spaces.”
Russell said TikTok provides places for people to be authentically themselves, which is something that LGBTQIA+ people can’t always do.
“[It’s a] space for people to connect with other people,” Russell said. “If they’re closeted especially and be able to see like, lesbian TikTok, and trans TikTok and queer TikTok. There’s all these pockets of spaces where people can find themselves and find their community… This [the banning of TikTok] would be a huge move against, I think, the youth of this nation.”
Lucia Caito, a second-year student majoring in English and human development and family science and minoring in social justice and civic responsibilities and the GSC’s creative marketing specialist, echoed Russell’s statement that TikTok is an important resource for younger LGBTQIA+ members.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people, especially young people, who are in conservative households that are not very accepting,” Caito said. “They don’t really have a lot of places to find that sense of community and find that representation, so TikTok and social media has become a place where you can connect with people all over the world.”
For her position at the GSC, Caito said that Instagram and Facebook are primarily used for advertising events and educational programming, while TikTok is where the Center can show more personality and cultivate a sense of community.
“We’re doing more funny TikToks that people will find relatable,” Caito said. “And then the hope is that people will see that TikTok and say ‘oh my gosh, that’s so funny, that’s so cool, I also go to URI… let me go to their website and find more information about the Center through those avenues.”
Russell said that the app isn’t perfect, but banning TikTok completely would negatively impact a lot of the people who use it.
“Just like any social media network, it has some drawbacks,” Russell said. “But it would be out of bounds, I think, in terms of the First Amendment and freedom of speech for the United States to do something like this. We’ve never done anything like this with any kind of platform before.”
Russell said she thinks fear of the unknown is why these actions towards removing TikTok are starting to occur. TikTok has the power to form communities and bring people together nationwide for events like marches on queer rights, and Russell said she thinks this potential is creating this fear for those in power.
“The older generation can’t control it [TikTok],” Russell said. “That’s where I think the real danger comes in — because you control the masses. And when you can’t control the masses, that therein lies the problem [for those trying to pass the bill].”
Follow the GSC on TikTok for fun community content @urigscenter and go to their website for education resources.