Est. 1981
Vol. 70, Issue 1
J a n u a r y 2 8 - Fe b r u a r y 4 , 2 0 2 5
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community /PaisanoOnline
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TikTok went Dark for 170 million U.S. Users
By Kara Lee Graphic Editor Late on Jan. 18, 170 million TikTok users in the U.S. discovered the app had gone dark. It became inaccessible as a response to a law passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress. TikTok voluntarily shut down service to its U.S. users before Sunday, Jan. 19 — the official day the app was scheduled to be taken offline. When users in the U.S. tried to open the app, they were greeted with the message below. “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” In addition, TikTok became unavailable for download in the App and Google Play stores. The primary concerns surrounding the app include national security risks and the sharing of user data with China. The Paisano reached out to U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro (District 20) for his thoughts on the situation. “I served on the Intelligence Committee for about nine years, and there is a legitimate concern about data transfers from TikTok to the Chinese government,” Castro said. “But I voted against the TikTok ban because, despite national security concerns, there are
other ways to address those issues. Also, the information that China could potentially get through data transfers could be obtained in other ways, even without TikTok. TikTok has been a vital platform for communication, commerce and enjoyment for millions of Americans. For those reasons, I voted against the ban when it came up last year,” Castro said. President Donald Trump signed an extension on the first day of his presidency allowing TikTok to remain available for an additional 75 days. When asked what happens after these 75 days, Castro responded that “TikTok will be banned if the federal government, under the Trump administration, enforces the law. It is unclear right now what will happen in the next few months — whether there will be buyers lined up and the company will transfer ownership or if TikTok will ultimately shut down. “I think part of what Donald Trump would like to see is for TikTok’s owners to sell at least the American segment to right-wing billionaires who would control the platform. I expect you’ll see them line up to buy it in the next few months,” Castro said. The Supreme Court upheld the ban, stating that it does not violate any constitutional rights. In a unanimous, unsigned opinion, the Court concluded that “the challenged provisions do
not violate the petitioners’ First Amendment rights.” Castro reflected on this decision, noting that the ban infringes upon First Amendment rights. “Yeah. I think it’s clearly an important platform for expression — artistic expression, political expression — and so, taking out an entire platform stifles free speech,” Castro said. “For some people, TikTok is the only social media platform they use.” When asked whether concerns about data privacy primarily drove the app’s ban, or if the content and user activity also played a significant role in the debate, Castro added “a lot of the debate centered on national security, but there was also dissatisfaction on the right about some of the content coming out of TikTok. It’s very popular with younger people, who tend to lean more progressive. That was definitely part of the conversation.” In response to whether TikTok is facing more scrutiny than other platforms over data misuse, Castro said “That’s the irony. Data privacy is a concern across all social media platforms and tech companies. American companies have collected a lot of data from American users over the years, which may be similar to what TikTok does. But for some reason, we haven’t addressed this with Congress.”
Beloved Chap Cat missing for weeks By Khoi Nguyen Staff Writer On Dec. 20, 2024, the UTSA community learned that Chaparral Village’s resident feral cat — Harry or ‘Chap Cat’— had gone missing. The report came from Harry’s Instagram account, run by students and alumni, reading “We haven’t see[n] Harry all week at Chap. Reports of him being over at Laurel, Alvarez and the Ximenes Garage came in this week. We just want our handsome boy to be home for Christmas.” Six weeks later, there have been no confirmed sightings of Harry. — “Harry’s been missing since Dec. 12, so we’re pretty worried about him,” said Dr. Karen Williams, a professor of Information Sciences at UTSA and faculty advisor of the Roadrunner Cat Coalition. The Cat Coalition has been spearheading
the search effort for Harry. A series of extensive searches conducted on campus and around the dorms have yielded no conclusive results. Paired with a lack of sightings and incident reports involving cats, the Coalition believes it possible someone could have taken him. “I’m just concerned that somebody took him,” Williams said. “If he’s safe and happy and well, that’s wonderful. We sure would like to know. We want to know.” “Our main theory was a student took him in because that’s when it started to get really cold,” said the owner of the @chap_cat Instagram account, who
wished to remain anonymous. The account has been working in tandem with the Coalition to coordinate information regarding Harry. “We did notice that someone had put a collar on him this year, so maybe it was just a student who wanted to take care of him. If it is the student who has him, you won’t be in trouble. Please just let us know.” Harry has been a member of the Roadrunner community for over 15 years. Although many have voiced their concerns over his age, Dr. Williams remains confident that it is not a factor in his disappearance, citing good health and regular vet appointments.
The Paisano also reached out to Joe Izbrand, Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications and External Affairs at UTSA, to ask how the ban could affect staff and faculty. While he did not have much additional information, he shared his knowledge of the topic. “There’s not much to share regarding Ti k To k . Back in December 2 0 2 2 , Governor Abbott issued an executive order banning all state agencies, including public universities, from using TikTok or accessing it through state-owned devices that can access the internet,” Izbrand said. “This includes IT servers.”
“He’s taken to the vet regularly. He’s lost a little bit of weight, but that’s normal for his age,” Williams said. “He looks good. There’s not anything wrong [with] him.” Similar concerns regarding inclement weather and wandering off have also been dismissed, given Harry’s strong preference for Chaparral Village. While findings are currently inconclusive, the Cat Coalition urges its members and students to stay hopeful and offer any information regarding Harry’s whereabouts. Information can be given to Williams at +1 (210) 316-0078 or to Harry’s Instagram account @chap_cat. “We’re definitely still hopeful,” the owner of @chap_cat said. “The Roadrunner Cat Coalition is trying to remain hopeful that he is somewhere, and that if someone has him, he’ll come home.”