The global influencer industry is an estimated $250 billion, and many rely on TikTok for income
TikTok could face a US ban in less than a month, threatening a multibillion-dollar creator and influencer economy.
The global influencer industry is an estimated $250 billion. Many influencers rely on the social media app for income, and for some, the decision could be catastrophic.
With a fast-approaching January 19 deadline, the Supreme Court will review, on January 10, the legality of forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to sell its stake to a US entity or be banned.
Apple and Google may be ordered to remove TikTok from app stores, preventing updates.
Some influencers are urging followers to switch to Instagram or YouTube, though their audiences are smaller there.
If TikTok shuts down, many creators may lose income without government support, impacting small businesses nationwide.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is on January 20, recently filed a brief to SCOTUS asking it to pause the fast-approaching law banning TikTok.
Public sentiment is skewed toward TikTok. The platform boasts 170 million US users, but according to a Pew Research Center survey, only 32% of Americans support a ban.