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For some, TikTok is a path to riches and the American dream. With a ban, it could all disappear

  • Some US lawmakers are pushing to ban the popular short-video app TikTok, which has over 150 million American users
  • A ban of TikTok would be a devastating blow to many US small businesses that have turned to the app to reach potential customers

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‘I think there might be a bias’: Young Americans address China fears amid potential TikTok ban

‘I think there might be a bias’: Young Americans address China fears amid potential TikTok ban

When Lauren Wyman felt crushed under the weight of her corporate finance job in 2019, she found solace in launching a small goth and alternative clothing business.

She initially made Facebook and Instagram accounts for her shop, Dark Mother Clothing, but generated only US$5,000 to US$6,000 in sales the first year. Wyman, 32, joined TikTok at the start of the pandemic, launched new products and posted a couple of videos that went viral. In 2022, she grossed US$217,000.

“A part of what people have done on this app is created their own slice of the American dream that is preached so much about,” said Wyman, who is based in Arizona, “whether it’s opening a small business or people who are no longer facing homelessness, people who are able to retire, creators who are now allowed to pursue their creative pursuits.”

Now, creators worry the platform might be taken away from them. TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi testified in front of lawmakers on Thursday, trying to convince them that the app is not a national security threat. But he was largely unsuccessful in making the case that TikTok was out of the reach of Chinese influence, observers say.

The Biden administration has recently increased efforts to force a sale of TikTok by its owner ByteDance, which is a Chinese technology company subject to Chinese law – the same thing Donald Trump sought to do in 2020 with a ban that was blocked by federal courts.

On March 15, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reportedly gave ByteDance an ultimatum: sell TikTok or face a ban in the US.

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