House of Representatives Approves TikTok Ban

Creators who generate revenue on TikTok probably don’t have to worry about a ban on the app in the US for quite a while.

According to an NBC News report, the Senate is not expected to take up the bill for perhaps a couple months. And even then, it’s likely Senators will want to write their own bill that could ban access to the app in America.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could see TikTok banned in the US.

The bill passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote, giving the social media giant’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell its controlling stake in the app. 

If no sale took place, the bill would block Google and Apple from offering TikTok in their respective app stores. It would also prevent any new updates, making the app difficult to use. 

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Lawmakers have concerns about China’s influence over the app.

Mike Gallagher, who co-authored the bill, said the US could not “take the risk of having a dominant news platform in America controlled or owned by a company that is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.” 

What Would a TikTok Ban Mean to Small Businesses? 

A study compiled by Oxford Economics on the economic impact generated by US small and mid-sized businesses on TikTok found that nearly 40% of SMBs say the social media app is critical to their existence.

Banning TikTok in the US is, therefore, likely to disrupt the ecosystem for creators and small businesses, which have built up marketing strategies and followers, not only on TikTok’s short-form videos but also on the TikTok Shop.

The app’s ecommerce platform was rolled out in the US in September 2023. Being the second primary shopping destination for young consumers behind Instagram, losing access to the TikTok Shop is likely to prove detrimental to small businesses that rely on it as a revenue avenue. 

While other social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, are crucial in driving engagement for small businesses, the potential loss of TikTok is creating anxiety among the small business community. 

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "House of Representatives Approves TikTok Ban" was first published on Small Business Trends