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North Texas content creators worry — is time up for TikTok?

North Texas content creators worry if time is up for TikTok
North Texas content creators worry if time is up for TikTok 01:57

NORTH TEXAS — Time's nearly up for TikTok in the United States, and North Texas content creators and small businesses are worried about the potential impact on their livelihoods.

Unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise, a federal ban on the popular video app will go into effect Sunday.

TikTok is one of the most widely used apps in the world, with more than 170 million users in the U.S. alone.

"I'm nervous that it's going to go away," said Sarah Mize, who is the CEO and founder of City Love List. "It's scary to think about how many small businesses are going to suffer because they don't have that way of advertising."

Mize runs a social media agency, along with popular accounts that promote restaurants and things to do in Dallas and Fort Worth.

"I kept saying, it's not going to get banned," she said. "Someone's going to save it. It's going to be fine. They'll figure it out. Well, we're getting to the point where I'm a little nervous now."

The TikTok ban is set to go into effect on January 19 if the Supreme Court upholds a law Congress passed last year requiring the app to separate from its China-based owner, ByteDance, or be shut down.

Lawmakers have national security concerns about TikTok, including the possibility the Chinese government could access private user data or manipulate content.

"We're lucky because most of our following is currently on Instagram," Mize said. "So I do think we'll be okay."

However, she knows other small businesses won't be able to just switch platforms and reach the same amount of people.

"The Instagram algorithm is not as effective as TikTok algorithm is," she said. "You could go viral, but it's a lot harder, and you don't reach as many people as fast as you can on TikTok, and so I think a lot of people are going to suffer."

Mize has seen firsthand how the free marketing tool has boosted sales for local restaurants. According to the app, there are five million small businesses in the country that rely on TikTok.

"We save it, and we save a million small businesses that can benefit from it," said Mize.

She's hopeful they'll be some type of extension so TikTok doesn't go dark in just a few days.

If the ban does go into effect, TikTok likely wouldn't disappear overnight.

The app would no longer be available in mobile app stores, but users who already have it downloaded on their phones would still have access. Cybersecurity experts said users would no longer receive new updates though, which would eventually make TikTok obsolete.

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