Nooo, America don’t ban TikTok you’re so sexy ahaha

TikTok vs the U.S. Government

Mar 23, 2023

Hello! It’s Amaal from Fax No Printer, and I’m taking over this week’s edition 👋🏾. We don’t usually do an edition on a Thursday but this topic has been everywhere online, so it’s only right to share some thoughts. Let’s get into it… 💅🏾

What’s happening?

The Biden Administration is demanding China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American company, or face a ban. The threat of a ban comes from concerns about accessing American user data, what Americans can see on the app, and the surveillancing of U.S. journalists.

TikTok’s CEO has argued that ‘a forced sale wouldn’t address the perceived security risk’. The company has pledged to spend $1.5 billion on a program to safeguard U.S. user data and content from Chinese government access or influence.

The UK has entered the chat

U.S government agency staff have been made to delete TikTok from federal devices. Published on the government website as of last week, the UK has also banned TikTok on government electronic devices. Will this trigger the UK to follow suit and roll out talks of a nationwide ban? 🤔

The UK right now:

Who really loses in this?

TikTok has been downloaded more times in the U.S. than any other social app1. A ban on TikTok can have a huge impact on small and medium businesses, the world of advertising and the U.S. economy. Here are some insights showing the scale of this ban and it’s potential impact:

Around 5M businesses (mainly small and medium businesses) are using TikTok to reach new and existing customers 2
The app is expected to generate more than $11 billion in U.S. ad revenue by 2024 3
The creator economy is worth $100 billion along with the plethora of jobs that come with it 4
The app has driven approximately $1.8 billion in U.S. consumer spending to date 5

I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of dollars 😬

What are the TikTokers saying?

As well as the financial contribution that TikTok has made to the economy, there is also no denying its social impact. Let’s get into it: hundreds of different micro communities, education has been democratised, and there’s no entry barrier to engage in subjects such as the arts, subjects which have traditionally not catered to those from underrepresented and/or lower socio-economic backgrounds.

There’s also an ongoing debate within the platform; users are debating whether this is all just about control of information, censorship and a violation of the First Amendment.