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Businesses, content creators grapple with TikTok ban implications

Scrolling through TikTok. (File)
KMIZ
Scrolling through TikTok. (File)

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The United States Supreme Court upheld a law on Friday that will force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban. However, the future of the platform is still unclear.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) praised the court's decision, adding that he believes China is preventing a sale to a U.S. buyer. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, viral YouTuber Mr.Beast, Los Angles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’ Leary have each expressed interest in acquiring the app. 

“There’s no need for TikTok to shut down if China will allow TikTok to be sold,” Hawley told reporters on Friday. “If you have TikTok on your phone currently, it can track your whereabouts it can read your text messages it can track your keystrokes, it has access to your phone records. The problem with that is all of that information is available to and subject to inspection by the government Beijing. It’s not just a national security threat. It’s a personal security threat.”

As part of the Supreme Court ruling app stores, such as Apple and Google, must stop offering TikTok for download. Cloud computing providers are prohibited from supporting the app.

Dave Roland, director of litigation for the Freedom Center of Missouri, said the decision was expected. 

“I was not surprised by the outcome.  What did surprise me a little bit was that it was unanimous,” Roland said. “Ordinarily when a Supreme Court opinion comes down, it's attributed to one author and so that author gets the credit or the blame for the decision.” 

TikTok wrote in a statement on Friday night that it would “go dark” on Sunday.

"The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans,” the statement says. “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”

President Joe Biden punted the decision on whether to enforce the ban to President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has been non-committal about whether or not he will enforce the ban. However, he invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to be a guest at his inauguration. 

Chew has also come out in support of Trump, posting a message on the app thanking the president for working to keep the app available in the United States. 

“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform — one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Chew said in a statement. 

Roland said that the law will be on the books, regardless. The question is whether Trump will direct his Department of Justice to enforce it. Roland said Trump’s decision on whether or not to enforce the ban will put companies in a tough spot, and force them to make decisions about their own risk tolerance. 

“Google could theoretically leave the TikTok app on its app store, but doing so, they basically just have to be trusting a statement from President Trump saying 'we're not going to enforce this.' If they choose to leave, they're  to leave the app on the App Store, or if Apple does the same, then they will be running the risk of really huge monetary penalties.”  

“Right now, President Trump has said that he's perfectly fine allowing TikTok to move forward,” Roland said. “If this statute is on the books, even if he is saying that he doesn't want to see it enforced, what if TikTok gets sideways with him at some point in the future? What if he wants TikTok to start prioritizing his own videos and pushing them towards preferred audiences?  Well,  if they hesitate to do that,  he can always say, ‘I could just start enforcing the ban.’  And so it actually gives the president  a really  exceptional  degree of influence and perhaps a concerning  degree of influence  over both Tick Tock  and the companies that are hosting its app.” 

TikTok has more than 120 million users in the United States. It has also proved to be an effective tool professionally, with roughly 88,000 businesses in Missouri using the platform. 

Sports journalist and anchor Chanel Porter -- formerly of ABC 17 News -- said that the app gave her an opportunity to share the behind-the-scenes aspect of live television many people don’t get to see. While the TikTok ban won’t have a direct impact on her day-to-day life, she said that it will be difficult to keep making the same type of content for her followers. 

“I enjoyed making my content on TikTok, but it's hard to translate the content that I make on TikTok to other platforms,” Porter said. “I see the kind of outlet that it's brought to so many people and so many people are getting to use it now as a source to share their life. A lot of people have turned to that as a way to make money and to support their families, and things like that.  So I don't really see too many negatives when comparing TikTok to the other platforms. It then raises the question of why aren't we looking at the other platforms as a problem?”

Article Topic Follows: National News

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Mitchell Kaminski

Mitchell Kaminski is from Wheaton, Illinois. He earned a degree in sports communication and journalism from Bradley University. He has done radio play-by-play and co-hosts a Chicago White Sox podcast.

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