TikTok (Credit: Flickr)
The Supreme Court Justices of the United States heard statements today regarding the ban on TikTok. After the statements, they were leaning toward the ban going into effect if the social media site is not sold by January 19.
With Donald Trump coming into power shortly after, there is speculation that the ban will in fact not go into effect, or not be a full ban.
“I don’t think it’s entirely likely that the company is going to completely go dark in the U.S., I think things are going to go right down to the wire,” Tech journalist, Carmi Levy said. “The company now finds itself in the position where its literal future survival rests in the hands of Donald Trump and the hope is, if you’re a TikTok executive, that Donald Trump will make good on his promises to save the company.”
With 170 million TikTok users in the United States, the potential ban would also effect Canadian content creators.
“TikTok being banned in the States, I think it will affect every creator in Canada as well because the population of TikTok in the U.S. is also joined with Canada,” A London Ontario TikTok creator with over 300 thousand followers and millions of likes, Sarah Farrugia said. “a lot of my following is based in the States, and I collaborate with a lot of U.S. creators, so that is a bit scary.”
A TikTok shutdown in the United States could have significant risks and opportunities for Canadian content creators, according to Levi.
“On the one hand, a large chunk of their audience, if most of their audience is based in the U.S., could potentially go dark, which means that their follower counts would drop, and their levels of engagement would drop. But at the same time, if you’re a digital influencer, you’re now competing against far fewer large American influencers and it means that you’ve pretty much got the playground to yourself,” Levi added. “So your follower count might drop, but the overall level of noise in the TikTok environment will go down, which means you potentially have more opportunity to be heard.”
TikTok influencer, Sarah Farrugia (credit: instagram @sarahmfarrugia)
The ban on TikTok may lead to more brands partnering with Canadian creators, adding more monetary value for Canadian influencers.
“I think people will start reaching out to Canadian creators and more worldwide creators as well,” Farrugia continued. “I would hope they come to Canada, I mean, I would love to work with Bumble or other dating apps.”
It appears as of right now, that all creators are taking the blows as they come, but it’s business as usual.
“I think it will affect us but I am excited to just keep posting my content and hopefully I get more of a Canadian-based audience as well because I obviously love Toronto and I want to represent London and my province as well,” Farrugia continued.
Both Levy and Farrugia recommended posting content to other social media sites to ensure followers and engagement remain the same through dips in usage. Other sites like Facebook, which used to be the most used, have since seen a decrease in popularity, and chances are either now or in the future, TikTok will also see this decrease in usage.
