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Chrissy Teigen addresses social media addiction in Instagram video.
Screengrabs via Instagram/Chrissy Teigen

‘Doesn’t have to be our lives’: TikTok ban reminds Chrissy Teigen of world before we all developed a nasty addiction to our phones

Be honest, we all felt a little relieved.

For 14 peaceful hours, TikTok wasn’t available to use in the U.S. Most of us, who’ve spent the last decade glued to our phones witnessing our brains rot away with each hour-long mindless scroll, suddenly realized how easy it is to live without it. Chrissy Teigen was among those experiencing freedom in the face of a TikTok-less world.

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The model took to Instagram (yes, we’re aware there is an irony there, and so is she) on Saturday evening to call out Donald Trump‘s tactics surrounding the momentary TikTok ban. The app stopped working on Jan. 19, right before the start of the president’s term, and came back a little over 10 hours later after Trump assured the company who owns it that it would face no penalties. Teigen, like everyone, predicted this would happen, and said young people would “fall right into it” and see the politician as a hero figure who “brought back free speech.”

In this photo illustration an iPhone displays a message popup on the social media platform TikTok on January 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C. On January 18th the popular platform was no longer available to users inside of the United States after a U.S. Supreme Court ban took effect.
Photo Illustration by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Keep in mind that the idea to ban TikTok because of its supposed dangerous links to China originated during Trump’s first term in 2020. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” he said at the time, per the Associated Press. He’s now the app’s biggest champion in a bid to win points among the younger demographic.

So Teigen was right about that. She was also right about the second point she made: life was better before social media. Look, if you’ve not become as jaded as this writer or American model Chrissy Teigen, I’m really happy for you. Still, as someone who used to defend the power of social media to connect people across the world and democratize access to information, I’ve never changed my opinion on something so completely and definitively.

In this photo illustration an iPhone displays a popup message on the social media platform TikTok on January 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The popular platform is now welcoming users back after being unavailable on January 18 to users inside of the United States after a U.S. Supreme Court ban took effect.
Photo illustration by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Besides the obvious political dangers of the principal forums of opinion being run by rich businessmen who’ll do anything to hold on to the power they have, there are plenty of other downsides to these apps. Addiction, the reduction of users’ attention spans, the obsession with trends hinged on herd-like mentality and aggressive consumerism, the blurred lines between genuine personal content and brand advertisement, and the list goes on and on. It’s reached a point where the cons most definitely outweigh the pros, but even with that realization, it can be extremely difficult to reduce social media usage, be it due to FOMO or hard-coded routines.

Teigen might not be the first person you’d think as a leading voice on lifestyle changes, but her proposal makes a lot of sense: no social media (or at least TikTok, the most addictive among them) between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m..

I personally think that one day there will be the most incredible rule, my first rule would be — I think the government or some kind of ethics committee, somebody, should shut off social media between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m..” 

The 39-year-old said this would benefit everyone, including herself, as she reminisced about the “days when we had nothing.” “Guys, life was great. Life was awesome before this. I know it’s hard to see it now, but it’s doable. It’s very doable,” she continued.

“This doesn’t have to be our lives. And I say this for myself as well because, obviously, I’m on here right now doing this! But it doesn’t have to define us or be our whole lives,” she concluded. Her actions and her words might seem contradictory, but with how hard it is to kick social media out of our lives, an official ban is almost a relief — the decision and the work would be made for us. A cop-out? Well, yes. A dangerous precedent? Perhaps. But a relief nonetheless.


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Author
Image of Francisca Tinoco
Francisca Tinoco
Francisca is a pop culture enthusiast and film expert. Her Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences from Nova University in Portugal and Master's Degree in Film Studies from Oxford Brookes University in the UK have allowed her to combine her love for writing with her love for the movies. She has been a freelance writer and content creator for five years, working in both the English and Portuguese languages for various platforms, including WGTC.