Is the TikTok Ban Near?: What It Means for Your Business

After passing the law in April, the Supreme Court has been adamant that TikTok poses “a significant threat to national security”. Since TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, there are various concerns over how American profile data is used, as well as worries about the circulation of disinformation and propaganda directly on the app. This view was maintained throughout the hearing.

TikTok’s main defense, which attorney Noel Francisco spearheaded, was the notion that a ban would be a violation of the US First Amendment, preventing American users from expressing themselves freely online. When bringing up this point, he stated:

“I’ll start by saying that TikTok, Incorporated is a United States subsidiary operating in the United States with its own set of free speech rights.”

Congress remained unconvinced by this argument. In fact, the justices maintained their stance that TikTok’s parent company is still bound by Chinese laws and, as a consequence, could be used to assist the Chinese government for its own gain.

A second attorney for Tiktok, Jeffrey Fisher, then stepped forward to defend TikTok on behalf of its content creators. Fisher also saw the ban as a means of restricting speech, insisting that American content creators should be able to create under any publisher they deem fit – foreign or not.

Despite the arguments presented by TikTok’s defense, it still seems unlikely that the TikTok ban will be put to a halt. In the meantime, it’s expected that the justices will come to a final decision soon.

Though we don’t have 100% confirmation that TikTok will be banned, it does feel wise to create a backup plan in preparation for January 19. If the law is passed, it’s likely that the US app will no longer receive updates and will be phased out due to reduced functionality. Additionally, most users may not notice much difference at first, since the app won’t be forcibly removed from devices.

My main suggestion is to think about diversifying your content. Luckily, there are a few TikTok alternatives – such as Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts – that are already popular platforms with huge audience bases to tap into.

Now’s the time to start posting your TikTok content on these platforms if you haven’t already. Though you might not build a large following immediately, you can begin to get to grips with the intricacies of each TikTok alternative, and start finetuning your content so it’s better suited for each platform in the long run. 

Since we’re likely to hear a verdict from Congress this week, TikTok’s fate may soon be sealed. We’ll keep you posted on any major updates while we anticipate a final verdict.