TikTok banned?

Anyone with children will likely greet the news with a yawn.

Forget that the law President Biden recently passed doesn’t instantly “ban” the hugely popular app. (Instead, it threatens a ban if Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell off its American subsidiary within nine to twelve months — court challenges could extend that deadline by years.)

It’s not that parents don’t understand the danger of China using TikTok data to compromise national security, it’s that we’ve been warding off attacks by “foreign” agents for years.

While moms and dads are free to be as draconian as they like cutting off access to the app, they still face hurdles. Some parents may not understand the extent to which TikTok is undermining their authority; even once they do, they may lack the technological know-how to discard the app while still allowing for some screen use.

That’s something Virginia-based American Parents Coalition aims to remedy. According to APC Executive Director Alleigh Marré, the TikTok problem requires a “two-pronged approach.”

“We’re supportive of the legislation, but we also recognize that … you can’t legislate parenting,” Marré tells Align.