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A TikTok ban could result in the loss of substantial earnings for small businesses and social media creators.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the China-based platform, with over 1 billion users globally and 170 million in the U.S., is at risk of being banned as a result of the intention to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications.”
The ban is expected to go into effect on Jan. 19, 2025, depending on whether the platform is unwilling to sell the application, per ABC News. On Dec. 6, 2024, the federal appeals court denied TikTok’s push to overturn the ban.
Within days, TikTok doubled down and requested an emergency injunction to allow the Supreme Court to review the decision to ban the application at the start of the upcoming year.
“The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok said in a statement, according to ABC News. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people.”
It added, “The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19, 2025.”
TikTok has also warned that the ban could have serious repercussions for small business owners and creators. The platform has proven to be a valuable tool for entrepreneurs, including Canvas Beauty CEO Stormi Steele and haircare expert Cliff Vmir.
As shared with AFROTECH™, Steele generated $2 million in sales through TikTok Shop LIVE during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Remarkably, she earned $1 million within just two hours on Black Friday, setting a record as the fastest sales achievement in TikTok Shop LIVE history.
Vmir, a dedicated TikTok Shop LIVE user, has leveraged the platform to promote and sell products from his haircare line, FEMMÉ. Thanks to the feature, he now earns nearly $100,000 per month.
“A lot of business owners that are not on TikTok, I feel like they should be on TikTok. That algorithm reminds you of the algorithm back in the day when Instagram first started. It’s so easy to pop on there,” Vmir told AFROTECH™ in a November 2024 interview. “It’s so easy if you have a business to transfer people into buyers. I never use to think that I would ever be able to even sell like $100,000 worth of silkening mist. Or even years ago, it would take me like a year and a half to sell $100,000 worth of silkening mist. And now I’m doing that at minimum in one month.”
Evidently, TikTok has been beneficial to small business owners, and this is being cited as another reason to reverse TikTok’s bans. Blake Chandlee, president of global business solutions for TikTok, said in a court filing that $1.3 billion in revenue could be lost for small business owners and social media creators in one month, per NBC 5 DFW.
“Those numbers would only increase if the shutdown extends for more than a month,” said Chandlee in the court filing.
If the Supreme Court moves forward with an approval of the injunction, TikTok will be able to maintain its footprint in the United States until it decides whether it will take up the appeal.
“The Supreme Court should have an opportunity, as the only court with appellate jurisdiction over this action, to decide whether to review this exceptionally important case,” TikTok and ByteDance said in the filing.
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