Thriving Michigan businesses using TikTok react to potential ban
(CBS DETROIT) - TikTok estimates that about 5 million businesses use the platform to reach customers. Would businesses locally see a decline if the ban is enacted? Some say yes.
Whether or not TikTok will stay on your phone is reaching new levels. With the Senate eyeing a bill to ban it, it puts users on edge, especially ones that use the app as their bread and butter.
"Before TikTok, my income would drop, and then when I opened TikTok and decided to go with an influencer, it went back up," said Alice Nguyen, owner of 88 Banh Mi & Bowl.
For many business owners, TikTok has helped push in a new wave of clientele. For Nguyen, her business opened last year. At first she says things were slow, but once she started posting and collaborating, things changed.
"At first, I thought it was for fun, I never thought I'd put my business into it. And then I really put my business into and now it's important to my business," Nguyen said.
Washington cites national security concerns when it comes to banning the app. Right now, TikTok has over 150 million American users.
Experts said the company is receiving data that other social websites like Instagram and Facebook obtain. It's who the data is going to that's believed to be the problem.
"What are they doing with it? That's the real question, I think, and I think it's more about who and not what they are collecting," said Doug Witten, assistant professor in Computer Science at Wayne State University.
President Joe Biden has alluded he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk. For business owners like Nguyen, she's concerned. Especially since about 30% of all transactions at her business stems from TikTok.
With her business in its first few years, the app has become vital.
"The first video went viral with one food influencer, and then it went viral, and it made our business like crazy for a whole month," she said.
If TikTok is banned in the country, it could open the door for a shift for other social media networking sites to exist.
Witten believes with the absence of Tik Tok, a new social networking website could be created.