As TikTok ban just days away, what comes next will impact millions

An approaching TikTok ban will impact millions of people who rely on the app for their livelihood.

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the federal law banning TikTok unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, as reported by The Associated Press (AP).

The platform, which is set to be banned January 19, harbors millions of small businesses, according to TikTok’s website.

The AP noted a sale doesn’t appear likely. Come Sunday, the app won’t disappear from users’ phones but it will not be available to download for new users and updates will not be available. This will eventually lead to the app “going dark,” according to Justice Department court filings.

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The reason for the TikTok ban?

On April 24, President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to sell to a U.S. owner within a year or to shut down, as reported by The AP.

TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, filed a lawsuit against the U.S., claiming the security concerns were overblown and the law should be struck down because it violates the First Amendment.

Earlier this week, FBI Director Christopher Wray told “60 Minutes” how the Chinese government may be able to weaponize TikTok.

“China’s cyber program is by far and away, the world’s largest bigger than that of every major nation combined and has stolen more of Americans’ personal and corporate data than that of every nation big or small combined,” he said. “But even beyond the cyber theft, there’s another part of the Chinese cyber threat that I think has not gotten the attention publicly that it, I think, desperately deserves, and that is the Chinese government’s pre-positioning on American civilian critical infrastructure to lie in wait on those networks, to be in a position to wreak havoc and can inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing.”

U.S. officials look to prevent TikTok from ‘going dark’

However, NBC reported Thursday, President Joe Biden’s administration is considering ways to keep TikTok available in America.

President-elect Donald Trump is also looking to preserve TikTok, according to an AP report.

The AP stated TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration and be granted a prime seating location as the president-elect’s national security adviser signals the incoming administration may take steps to “keep TikTok from going dark.”

As the AP noted, incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz made a comment during a Thursday interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” that the law that could ban TikTok also “allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table.”

‘Allowed me to achieve the dream life:’ Creators share impact of TikTok ban

User-generated content (UGC) creators like Jianna Capri are hopeful the app will be kept alive.

“I make $10,000+ a month from TikTok and it’s ultimately changed my entire life,” she told MyNorthwest in an email Wednesday. “It allowed me to achieve true financial freedom and live the dream life society tells me should be impossible.”

Capri who focuses on travel and lifestyle content said she uses TikTok more than Google. She also regularly uses CapCut for her TikTok posts, a video editing software made and owned by ByteDance.

“I use CapCut for not just my personal videos but as my only other income outside of TikTok,” she shared. “So the ban doesn’t just affect that income, it affects my entire ability to make money.”

Desiree Hill, owner of Crown’s Corner Mechanic in Conyers, Georgia, started her business solo as a mobile mechanic. Last month, she told the AP that sharing videos of her work on TikTok helped spread the word and she became so popular she was able to open a 9,000-square-foot brick and mortar shop with five employees.

If a ban does occur, small businesses will have to migrate to other platforms to find their customers. Instagram Reels, Snapchat and YouTube Shorts are alternatives. However, Hill told the media outlet she’s worried other sites may not have the reach that TikTok does. She said she has a presence on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, but it’s not the same.

Another alternative, the AP reported, is to build a strong database of customers who opt-in to provide contact emails or phone numbers.

Many have already flocked to Xiaohongshu, which in English means “Little Red Book,” a Chinese social media app that combines e-commerce, short video and posting functions.

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Spike doesn’t like the idea of Musk buying TikTok

Co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio Spike O’Neill said Tuesday he believes TikTok is significant.

“The platform itself has a purpose, a functioning purpose, both in social life, in our culture and in our commerce,” he shared.

Jake Skorheim, the other host of “Jake and Spike” noted reports that Elon Musk may buy the app but Spike shared he doesn’t support that exchange.

“To give Elon Musk control of two of the largest social media information distribution platforms, two of them, I think it’d be a horrible idea,” he said. “The guy’s shown a total lack of morality in how he runs the business.”

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told the AP he estimates TikTok is worth “well north of $100 billion” with the algorithm — and potentially up to $200 billion.

“Without the algorithm, it’s $40 billion to $50 billion,” Ives told the media outlet, adding he does not believe that ByteDance and Beijing would sell TikTok with the algorithm.

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Ursula: Other apps are ‘fraught with problems’

According to the AP, the app has more than 170 million users. One of those is Ursula Reutin, one of the hosts of KIRO Newsradio’s “The Gee and Ursula Show.”

She explained Monday that other apps do not compare to TikTok’s algorithm.

“I think that there’s going to be some kind of replacement,” she said. “I already see that TikTok influencers, or people who have accounts that I follow, they are already saying, follow me on Instagram, follow me on Facebook, but each one of those social media apps is fraught with problems. Zuckerberg just announced last week that they’re gonna no longer do any fact-checking. So there goes Facebook and Instagram, X, I’ve already deleted, so sometimes you’ll send me stuff from X and I can’t see what it is because I’ve already deleted it from my apps because it’s so toxic and there is so much misinformation and disinformation. Not to say that there isn’t on TikTok, but I do like the algorithm that I have on TikTok, and I know that that is shared by so many people.”

As for her data, Ursula isn’t worried.

“I think that whether it’s the Chinese government, or whether it’s others who want to again cause harm, hackers, etc., or people who want our my personal information, I feel like that’s already available,” she shared.

Gee Scott, the other host of “Gee and Ursula,” shared on KIRO Newsradio’s “Seattle’s Morning News” Wednesday that he never got into TikTok.

“Fortunately for me, I’ve never been a TikTok fan, that’s not my thing,” he said. “However, I will be empathetic and I will show grace to those who do have a TikTok addiction. My co-host Ursula Reutin has a TikTok addiction.”

This story was originally published on January 16, 2025. It has been updated and republished since then.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X and email her here.