Calls to ban TikTok, the social media app famous for teen dance routines and karaoke versions of pop hits, on all devices in the U.S. are growing in intensity among both Democrats and Republicans. On Monday, President Biden gave government agencies 30 days to make sure they've removed TikTok from all their devices. Now lawmakers on Capitol Hill are rumored to be moving legislation ahead that would allow the president to ban TikTok across the board. Meanwhile, a growing number of U.S. states have banned the app on public employee and school-issued devices, mirroring official-device TikTok bans in the EU and Canada.
But here's the thing: banning TikTok from every American's personal device isn't just politically implausible and constitutionally dubious — unless lawmakers want to destroy access to the free internet — it's also technologically impossible.
