TikTok’s creators have been left in limbo as they await a decision on a possible ban on the platform

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Will TikTok be banned this month?

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That’s a pressing question that keeps creatives and small business owners in an anxious state as they await a decision that could improve their livelihoods. The fate of the popular application will be decided by the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Jan. 10 by law requiring TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a US ban.

At the heart of the case is whether the law violates the First Amendment, with TikTok and its co-creators arguing that it does. The US government, which sees the platform as a national security risk, says it is not.

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For creators, TikTok’s doomsday scenarios are nothing new since President-elect Donald Trump first tried to block the platform with an executive order during his first term. But despite Trump’s recent statements indicating that he now wants TikTok to stick, the prospect of a ban has never been more immediate than now that the Supreme Court is acting as the final arbiter.

If the government wins as it did in the lower court, TikTok says it will close its US platform in Jan. 19, left creators scrambling to redefine their future.

“A lot of my other friends are smart, we’re all kind of confused. But I’m still calm,” said Gillian Johnson, who has benefited financially from TikTok’s live streaming and rewards program, which has helped creators generate high incomes by posting high-quality original content. The 22-year-old filmmaker and recent college graduate is using his TikTok earnings to help finance his equipment for projects like a camera and editing software for his short films “Gambit” and “Awake! My neighbor.”

Johnson said the idea of ​​TikTok going “hard to accept.”

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Many creators have taken to TikTok to vent their frustrations, facing the possibility that the platform they’ve invested heavily in could soon disappear. Online communities are at risk of disruption, and the economic collapse could be particularly difficult for those who rely heavily on TikTok and leave full-time jobs to create careers and incomes related to their content.

For some, the uncertainty has them questioning whether to continue making content at all, according to Johnson, who says he knows creators who have considered quitting. But Nicla Bartoli, vice president of sales at the Influencer Marketing Factory, said that the creators he contacted are not too worried since the news of the possible ban of TikTok appeared several times in the past years, then died.

“I believe a good chunk thinks it won’t happen,” said Bartoli, whose unit works to connect influencers with brands.

It is not clear how soon the Supreme Court will issue a decision. But the court can act quickly to block the law from taking effect if at least five of the nine justices deem it unconstitutional.

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Trump, for his part, has asked the justices to temporarily suspend the ban so he can weigh it once he takes office. In the brief — written by the attorney general’s nominee — Trump called the First Amendment ban on TikTok “sweeping and troubling” and said he wanted a “negotiated solution” to the issue, something the Biden administration had unsuccessfully pursued.

While waiting for the dust to settle in Washington, some creators are exploring other ways to promote themselves or their business, encourage users to follow them on other social networks or invest more time in producing non-TikTok content.

Johnson says he’s already making plans for what’s next and looking at other opportunities. Although he has yet to find a place like TikTok, he has started spending more of his time on other platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, both of which are expected to benefit financially if TikTok disappears.

According to a report by Goldman Sachs, the so-called economy of creators, partly stimulated by TikTok, could be worth $480 billion by 2027.

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Because the opportunity to monetize content exists across multiple platforms, a large number of creators have already changed their social media presence. However, many TikTok creators have benefited the platform – and its algorithm – by giving them the kind of exposure they didn’t get on other platforms. Others say it has promoted and given opportunities to creators of color and those from other marginalized groups.

Despite fears about the fate of TikTok, industry analysts note that creators tend to avoid making major changes, such as leaving the platform, until something happens.

“I’m worried but I’m also trying to be wildly optimistic,” said Brandon Hurst, who credits TikTok for rescuing his business from obscurity and driving it to rapid growth.

A year after joining TikTok, 30-year-old Hurst, who sells plants, said his sales have doubled, surpassing what he struggled to achieve on Instagram. He built his customers by using the live feature on TikTok, which helped him to sell more than 77,000 plants. This business has grown so much that she says she has employed five people including her husband and mother.

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“For me, this was my only way to do business,” said Hurst.

Billion Dollar Boy, an advertising agency based in New York, advised creators to upload all their TikTok content to a personal portfolio, which is very important for those who post mainly on the platform, said Edward East, founder and agency group. CEO. This can help them quickly build their audience elsewhere. It can also serve as a starting point for brands that may want to partner with them for product promotion, East said.

But until the deadline of Jan. 19, East said that creators should continue to post regularly on TikTok, which has 170 monthly US users and remains the most successful in reaching audiences.

If the Supreme Court does not delay the ban, as Trump is asking them to do, app stores and Internet service providers will have to stop offering TikTok by Jan. 19. That means anyone who doesn’t have TikTok on their phone. you will not be able to download it. TikTok users will continue to have access, but the ban — which will prevent them from updating the app — will eventually render the app “inoperable,” the Justice Department said.

TikTok said in court papers that it estimated that a one-month shutdown would cause the platform to lose about a third of its daily users in the US. In less than three weeks, the American people will know if the Supreme Court agrees.

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