“Do we think it’s actually gonna happen?” asks influencer Audrey Peters in a TikTok video posted on Saturday, shortly after news broke about an imminent TikTok ban in the U.S. As the clock ticks on the January 19 deadline, many creators like Peters are preparing for the worst. “Anyways, I still very much exist on another place that’s linked in my bio. If you wanna keep in touch, you know where to find me,” she adds.
@audreypeters Is this another false alarm or lol
♬ original sound – Audrey Peters🍒
Late last week, a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban in just six weeks. “They just unlocked the most chaotic advent calendar in the history of social media,” posted one TikTok creator.
@pearlmania500 Everyone on this app is entering senior week for the next 44 days. tiktokban supremecourt congress news breaking 44days adventcalendar wtf pearlmania500 the fedwral government giving us a month and a half notice is wild
♬ original sound – Pearlmania500
While ByteDance and TikTok filed an emergency motion on Monday asking an appeals court to temporarily block the law that would ban TikTok in the U.S, many of TikTok’s more than 170 million users in the United States seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs. “Are we not gonna address the elephant in the room?” one TikTok user posted in a video. “TikTok is literally getting banned in a month and thousands of influencers [are] gonna lose their jobs.”
@torimorgannnn can we talk ab the tiktok ban #tiktokban #influencer #microinfluencer #ban #onlinemoney
♬ sweetener speed – ༺♡༻
The fact that TikTok has weathered threats of a ban across two presidential administrations, means many online are calling their bluff. “Idk if im just delusional but i feel like nothings going to happen,” wrote one person in the comments of the video. “This happens like every year we are fine,” added another. However, for influencers and small businesses who rely on TikTok for income, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
According to a report published earlier this year by First Insight, 16% of creators earn over 75% of their income on the platform, with TikTok’s lucrative “Creator Rewards Program” doubling the number of creators earning $50,000 monthly in the past six months. Brand sponsorships have also shifted from Instagram to TikTok, with 70% of brands now leveraging the app for marketing, compared to 47% of brands who report working with creators on Instagram and 33% who sponsor YouTube creators, according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2024 benchmark report. TikTok warned in a court filing Monday that a U.S. ban could cost small businesses and social media creators $1.3 billion in revenue and earnings in just one month if the app is banned, with losses only growing if the shutdown continues.
When asked where they would turn to if TikTok were banned, 40% of content creators surveyed by First Insight indicated they’d turn to Facebook, while 33% named Instagram as their next best option. According to the report, 67% of influencers have already prepared contingency plans in case of a TikTok ban—and 64% said their followers are actually engaging more on other platforms.
“So now that TikTok is going to be banned, I need to know what’s going to be the new app,” one user posted. “When people know, let me know first because I need to be the first one on there creating content.”
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