Design It For Us on Bill to Ban TikTok

Design It For Us Co-Chair Zamaan Qureshi issued the following statement in response to the passage of a bill by the House of Representatives forcing a ban or divestiture of TikTok:

“By hastily imposing a likely ban, lawmakers still shrug off any real responsibility to legislate and pass much needed regulation that would force all platforms to be held accountable for their constant surveillance of users and profiteering off of personal data. As we have continued to emphasize, bans cannot effectively protect young users and instead create a false precedent for sweeping restrictions on social media platforms that still fail to address user safety and privacy. Rather than a ban, federal and state legislation that puts the onus on platforms to prioritize safety by design and privacy by default would more effectively safeguard our privacy and center our well-being on all social media and online platforms. 

“We deserve transparency from our lawmakers to inform the public why a measure to hastily ban a commonly used platform is necessary. We are calling on Congress to pass laws that implement guardrails for all social media platforms – not just TikTok – that would give young people agency over their digital experience.”

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