MidReal Story
Social Media Standoff: Taylor's Ultimatum
Scenario: Taylor Swift: If TikTok Is Banned, I Will Leave the U.S.
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I found myself in a shitstorm after the media grabbed hold of a video clip where I said that if TikTok got banned in the U.
S, I would leave the country.
It was all very dramatic, but let me explain.
TikTok was under threat from the U.
government due to national security concerns since it is owned by a Chinese company.
The issue was that the app could potentially collect data from U.
citizens and send it over to China, which the U.
government was not happy about.
So, they were debating whether to ban TikTok or not.
A reporter asked me about my thoughts on the matter during an interview, and I answered that if they did ban TikTok, then I would leave the country.
That was my honest response at that moment, but the media took it and ran with it.
My answer was not premeditated; I was just giving my opinion on the spot.
I wasn’t even fully aware of the news or implications back then, but I knew it was bad enough for me to react that way.
Besides, I didn’t want a ban either because I loved using TikTok to connect with my fans.
It’s one of the platforms where I can post more personal stuff or behind-the-scenes moments, which is something that my fans always ask for.
I enjoy sharing those with them too, so knowing that I might lose that option made my blood boil.
Looking back, I guess I could have chosen better words, but all I wanted to say was that I would hate for the app to be banned and that I would be very sad if they took it away from us like that.
It’s not like I would actually leave the country if they banned TikTok; it was just an exaggeration to express my emotions at that time.
I often do that when I talk, and I sometimes forget that people can take things too literally online.
Oh well, you live and you learn, right?
One of my best friends, Selena Gomez, texted me right after, asking if everything was okay because she had seen the video.
I laughed it off and explained what happened, but she said that people were talking about it online, wondering if I would actually go through with my word.
Ed Sheeran, another close friend of mine, also saw it, and he tweeted, “I’m ready to pack my bags with you if you’re serious.”
That of course started trending on Twitter, and my fans began panicking.
Some of them were calling me a drama queen, while others were threatening to burn the White House down if they banned TikTok.
I felt bad because everyone started making a big deal out of it, when it was really nothing.
I didn’t mean to scare anyone, so I quickly clarified my comment on social media later.
I explained that I was only joking and that my statement was a hyperbole.
I even made a poll on Twitter, asking if my fans wanted me to stay in the U.
S if TikTok were to be banned.