Chrissy Teigen Calls for Social Media Curfew Following TikTok Shutdown
Chrissy Teigen is making headlines with her latest public service announcement. The celebrated author of the “Cravings” cookbook is advocating for a nationwide social media curfew after TikTok’s recent brief outage that sent users into a frenzy. During an Instagram Story on Saturday night, Teigen suggested that social media platforms should be inaccessible from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. “One day, I think there should be a fantastic rule. My first rule would be to have the government or some ethics committee shut off social media between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.,” she expressed.
Teigen reminisced about a time before the digital age, stating, “I come from the days where we had nothing and then we saw something. Life was great. Life was awesome before this.” She emphasized that while it may seem challenging, life without constant online engagement is possible. “This doesn’t have to define us or fill our lives,” she asserted, acknowledging her own usage of social media even as she promotes change.
Her remarks came amidst the social media community’s distress over TikTok’s temporary shutdown, which affected over 170 million Americans. During the outage, users were greeted with a message explaining that services were unavailable due to pending US legislation against the app’s parent company, ByteDance. The app resumed normal operations by Sunday morning.
TikTok appreciated President-elect Donald Trump for facilitating the service’s return, emphasizing the importance of the platform for millions of small businesses and users alike. The company characterized the quick restore to functionality as a victory for free speech and called for ongoing collaboration with the incoming administration.
Commenting on the shutdown, policy analyst Joel Thayer suggested it could have been a public relations maneuver, speculating that it might have been initiated to generate a sense of urgency among users. As the dust settles on this brief but impactful incident, discussions around social media’s role in our lives continue, and Teigen’s proposal for a curfew remains a provocative point of conversation.
