Assistant Professor of Journalism Israel Balderas spoke with Inside Higher Ed for a Q&A on how a ban of the social media app TikTok could impact higher education.
Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, was recently interviewed by Inside Higher Ed about the implications of a TikTok ban on higher education.
In April 2024, Congress passed a law banning the Chinese-owned video app, effective in January 2025. While the app did go offline in the U.S. for a brief time, President Donald Trump put the ban on hold for 75 days shortly after his inauguration. According to Inside Higher Ed, 47% of college students use the app on a daily basis.
From the Inside Higher Ed article titled What Would a TikTok Ban Mean for Higher Ed? on Jan. 30, 2025:
鈥淭ikTok represents a pivotal transition point between what was the social media鈥揹riven higher ed of the last 15 years and now the artificial intelligence鈥損owered, immersive digital future that鈥檚 going to define the next decade,鈥 said Balderas. 鈥淭ikTok isn鈥檛 just a social media platform somehow caught in this geopolitical battle. It represents a transition point in digital history.鈥
Read Baldera’s full Q&A with .