TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are currently locked in a legal battle with the U.S. government that could result in a ban of the popular app in this country.
From a potential loss in revenue to a loss of online community engagement, TikTok entrepreneurs are preparing for the worst.
“I’ve been preparing myself for it to be deleted,” Lauren Rossi, a self-made TikToker, said. “Which is why in the last 9 months I’ve stepped away from TikTok a bit and decided to focus more on Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat.”
Rossi, who posts on TikTok under the account name itslaurenrossi, got her start on the app after posting her first video in 2020. She quickly gained viewership after that, surpassing 50,000 followers on TikTok. Now, Rossi is at a crossroads because her platform and the origin of her career may be at risk.
Since March 2023, 56% of U.S. citizens believe that TikTok’s connection to China poses a national security threat, according to Statista.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif. issued a statement in April 2023 agreeing with this threat. Kim said: “As long as TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, it is an urgent national security threat. We cannot sit idly by as TikTok takes data from American users and controls the information they see on their feed.”
According to NPR, 170 million users in America use TikTok which is more than half of the population.
TikTok has allowed younger people like Rossi to grow their popularity, build a platform, and become more widely recognized professionally. “At the time, I had no idea how much it would shape my future, but looking back, it’s clear how it set the stage for my TikTok career,” Rossi said.
According to Pew Research, public support for banning TikTok has been declining and has dropped from 50% to 32%.
Alisa Zenchenko, a political science major at Ursinus College, believes it is the job of the government to find creative solutions. “I think that while there are national security concerns, it should be the government’s duty to represent all the people, including entrepreneurs on the app,” she said.
Zenchenko thinks there is a way for TikTok to exist in the United States without exploiting the public’s personal information. “I think that two approaches could emerge: one, finding a compromise for the users of TikTok in a way that truly protects their information and interactions, and two, if there is no compromise, it should be the government’s duty to help support those citizens,” she said. “The app has supported too many small businesses and projects to just ignore its impact.”
Emily Stiles, a criminal justice major from Eastern University, believes she may have the solution. “I think that the government has the technology where we should be able to do two things: one, figure out how to make TikTok have regulations that you can’t figure out everything about a person through the app; or second, maybe create a new version that is more regulated, which would be a lot harder to make that type of app popular, but either way, those two options would be smarter for the safety of every American individual,” Stile
As reported by NPR, TikTok’s lawyers have been fighting to claim that removing the app violates 170 million Americans’ First Amendment rights. The court was given an ultimatum after the Biden Administration nearly reached a deal. Now, TikTok has until Jan. 19, 2025, to find a non-Chinese buyer, or else it will become banned within the United States.
Katherine Thomas 
Ella Curcuruto 
Colin Tomczak