The clock is ticking on the future of TikTok in the U.S., leaving creators and influencers who make a living on the short-form video platform to consider how they will adapt if the plug is pulled.
President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill in April that aims to force the platform’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell to a new U.S. owner — or face an outright ban.
The current deadline is Jan. 19, 2025. The odds of a ban are hard to gauge.
TikTok, for its part, is already challenging the constitutionality of the measure in court: “We will keep fighting for your rights in the courts,” TikTok president Shou Chew told users in a video posted on the app. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail.” And this week, a group of eight creators (bankrolled by TikTok) filed a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.
Opponents have long claimed that, because of its Chinese ownership, the short-form video app poses a security threat. That hasn’t hurt TikTok’s popularity, with the company claiming it has 170 million U.S.
users and more than a billion worldwide. A CNN/Edison poll says it is the third most-popular social media site in the U.S.
, behind Facebook and Instagram; Pew Research says TikTok is used by 62% of adults under 30. All of which makes it a lucrative space for TikTok’s vibrant community of creators and influencers, who build sizable audiences with their video content and are frequently paid to promote products and services. S.
