Ayman Chaudhary made a living on TikTok by releasing video excerpts on books that were banned in schools in ultra-conservative parts of the US.
TikTok Businesspeople
Now, the online platform she relies on to sustain her family is about to be prohibited, in what TikTok businesspeople see as an attack on their livelihood. “It’s so essential to small businesses and creators; it’s my full-time job,” the 23-year-old Chicago resident told AFP.
“It makes me really worried that I live in a country that would pass bans like these instead of focusing on what’s actually important, like gun control and healthcare and education.”
9-month Ultimatum on TikTok
A new US law imposed a nine-month ultimatum on TikTok’s parent, Chinese internet company ByteDance, to divest the enormously popular video network or face its suspension in the United States.
Platform has proved invaluable for businesses ‘just starting out’. US lawmakers stated that as long as ByteDance owns TikTok, the Chinese government can utilise it for espionage and propaganda.
“Everybody who’s involved in deciding whether or not this platform is going to get banned is turning a blind eye to how it’s going to affect all of the small businesses,” said Bilal Rehman of Texas.
His @bilalrehmanstudio TikTok account, which humorously advertises his company’s interior design creations, has approximately 500,000 followers.
“They don’t really understand social media and how it works,” the 24-year-old added.
TikTok has evolved from a curiosity to a requirement for many small businesses in the United States, according to an Oxford Economics study commissioned by the site.
TikTok drives growth for more than seven million businesses in the United States, generating billions of dollars and sustaining over 224,000 jobs, according to the report.
“It’s become such a huge part of our economy that taking that away is going to be devastating to millions of people,” Rehman said of TikTok.
Chaudhary turned to TikTok in early 2020 to discuss her love of reading while under Covid-19 lockdowns.
To read our blog on “TikTok’s CEO expects to defy US regulations,” click here
