NEW YORK — The U.S. is inching closer and closer to a potential TikTok ban — with the nation’s highest court upholding a law that’s set to halt new downloads of the app starting Sunday. But many questions around what exactly this ban will look like, and whether it will actually be enforced, remain.
That puts millions of users and content creators in limbo — particularly influencers and small business owners who have come to rely on the mega-popular social media platform as a source of income.
Among those individuals is Terrell Wade, a comedian, actor and content creator with 1.5 million followers on TikTok under the handle @TheWadeEmpire. Wade, who has turned his TikTok presence into a full-time job, said he expects “two days of chaos” as the Sunday deadline nears.
“At this point, I really don’t know what to believe,” Wade told The Associated Press.
In a unanimous decision on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that will ban TikTok unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company before Jan. 19 — ruling that a risk to national security posed by the platform’s ties to China overcomes First Amendment concerns about limiting free speech on and by the app.
A sale does not appear imminent, meaning the ban should go into effect Sunday. But the ruling also arrives just days before the inauguration of a new president.
President Joe Biden’s administration has maintained that TikTok must change its ownership to address national security concerns, but signaled that it won’t enforce the law on Sunday, the Democrat’s final full day in office. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that actions to enforce the law will fall to the new administration due to “the sheer fact of timing.” Meanwhile, Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who once also tried to ban TikTok, has now vowed to preserve access to the platform. But what his options will be following Monday’s inauguration remains unclear.
Among other points of confusion is what a ban on TikTok will look like. Experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ devices once the law takes effect. But new users won’t be able to download it and updates will not be available. That will eventually render the app unworkable, the Justice Department said in court filings.
All of this is “a reminder to the creator community that social media platforms can come and go,” notes Kelsey Chickering, a principal analyst at Forrester, stressing the disruptions TikTok creators and influencers will feel if the ban takes effect. If access is lost, she adds, many will have to pivot and re-build their presence on other platforms.
While bracing for a potential Sunday ban, Wade is among creators who hope that something happens to avert the shutdown, although he thinks he has enough followers on other platforms to stay afloat.
“I’m still remaining optimistic,” he said.
Still, many continue to express fears over the potential of losing TikTok.
Janette Ok, a full-time content creator based in Los Angeles, says TikTok is the primary platform she uses today. As an influencer and also an artist, she says the platform has helped her make brand deals and promote her music — bringing “opportunities that I never believed I could experience in my lifetime.”
Ok was also among influencers who TikTok brought to Washington in 2023 to lobby for the preservation of the app, and remembers a ban being discussed as far back as 2020. And as someone who is Asian, the efforts to ban TikTok over the years have also felt “a little xenophobic,” she added.
“I hear all these different things, and I don’t know what to believe — so that’s where I’m very frustrated. I’m confused. I’m disappointed,” Ok said. “It’s a beautiful app, it’s brought so many people together, it’s changed a lot of people’s lives, and for it to just be taken away like that feels … so not American.”
Jordan Smith, a former WNBA player who operates The Elevated Closet in Austin, Texas — a clothing brand for tall women — depends on TikTok and TikTok Shop to find customers that fit her niche demographic that’s difficult to specifically market to otherwise.
“On TikTok I’ve just been able to find that audience so much easier,” she said.
She fears losing TikTok will hurt her business, and she’ll miss it personally, too. So she’s following what people are saying will happen on Sunday and hopes a ban might be diverted.
“It kind of seems like Biden’s kind of pushing it off to Trump,” she said. “So people have hopes that maybe we have a few more days and it won’t go dark on Sunday, but I don’t really know.”
Alejandro Flores-Munoz owns a catering business in the Denver area called Combi Taco, or @combicafe on TikTok. TikTok helped him reach customers without spending money on marketing, he said. He was optimistic that TikTok would stick around until he heard Friday’s Supreme Court decision.
“Up until today, I was extremely optimistic. And after today’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban or the sale of TikTok, I weigh my options,” he said. “But honestly, it’s very disheartening, specifically because I truly did rely on the app for my business and my growth of my business.”
Going viral on TikTok helped Ruben Trujillo market his Cafe Emporos Coffeegrams, a card that includes coffee, tea or hot chocolate. He said he’s growing frustrated with the ever-evolving politics surrounding the ban.
“It’s kind of like they keep putting the ball in each other’s court, but who’s going to make the decision?” he said. He said small business owners are told to “be creative, pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” he said. “And a lot of people did that, and it’s like those bootstraps are being cut now.”
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Associated Press reporters Haleluya Hadero in South Bend, Indiana, and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
