You and your friends may have nailed the latest TikTok dance challenge, but it looks like Uncle Sam might need a little more practice!
TikTok is the fastest-growing social media app in the United States. It lets users around the world watch and share short videos—including viral dance sequences re-created by millions of people.
Not everyone is happy about TikTok’s popularity, though. The app is owned by a Chinese company. U.S. lawmakers say that means China could use TikTok to gather private information about Americans. That could put individual U.S. citizens—and the entire country—at risk, some lawmakers warn.
That is why the U.S. Congress recently passed a bill that could ban TikTok as soon as January. But TikTok and some American users are fighting back in court. They say a TikTok ban would violate Americans’ right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
This cartoon comments on the situation with symbolism—the use of simple objects or symbols to represent larger concepts. Study the cartoon, then answer the questions.