The U.S. government may soon ban TikTok, and people are not having it. Especially the Gen Z youth, who depend highly on this platform for things like endorsements, publicity, and funding.

TikTok is a video-sharing app and social media platform. The Chinese creators first launched the app o in September 2016. However, it didn’t gather a lot of participants and attention at first. In 2018, it merged with Muiscal.ly and retained its accounts and data.
From 2016 to 2020, it grew to about half a million users around the world. Therefore, it wasn’t as popular as it is today.

TikTok gained most of its current audience during the pandemic. When people were stuck at home, they became more active on social media, and TikTok is one of the apps people focused on.
From its half a million users in 2020, TikTok has grown to more than 834.3 million as of 2023. Today, millions of Americans and people around the world use the app for content creation or consumption.

While it started as an app for sharing silly videos, voiceovers, and playful choreography, TikTok has evolved greatly. People from around the world are using it not only for entertainment but also for news, educational content, and even spiritual guidance.
What’s more, Americans realized that they can earn a lot of money using the app since the pandemic. Therefore, many people signed up for this sole purpose.

During the pandemic, many people who would never have thought of a career in content creation joined TikTok. They have been making good money ever since. Now, the impending ban of the app across America is worrisome for people. On March 13th, the bill for the ban passed the House.
If it reaches the Senate and goes into law, it’ll affect many Americans who depend on the app for their daily income.

The bill calls for the forced sale or ban of tiktok. It first started as a proposition in 2023 and quickly went through the House. There, they collectively came to the conclusion that it’s either an American owns the app or they will ban it.
Now, it is left to the Senate to deliberate on the bill since it already passed the House.

The Senate is taking its time to review the bill, unlike the House. One of the reasons why is that they know how much it would affect Americans and their businesses. As TikTok is now a huge part of the American economy, banning it will cause a huge shift. People will go depend on payments from the app for their daily living will have a hard time paying their bills and living well.

President Joe Biden is an avid supporter of the bill. He has already mentioned that he will sign off on it if it makes it to his desk. However, the president has not made any mention of how much it will affect the state of the country’s economy. As this is a huge issue that will affect the economy, people are hoping the president considers their source of income.

There are many ways one can earn money using TikTok. One of them is by joining the TikTok Creator Fund program which pays between two cents and four cents for every thousand views. The app also set aside $300 million ready to pay people for their content. Some creators also use their profiles to promote products and get paid with endorsement deals from big brands.

There are about 150 million tiktokers in the U.S. as of January 2024. This makes up the highest population by country for the app. Many of these people have quit their regular 9-5 careers and are now full-time content creators, vloggers, and social media influencers.
They promote items for major businesses and corporations and earn a good chunk of cash while doing so.

More than 50% of Americans rely on side hustles to pay their bills. This is because one job does not give enough returns to keep up with increasing prices and inflation. Therefore, if they ban TikTok, many people, especially Gen Z, will lose their side hustles. They will lose their extra income, and this will impact the economy quite negatively. Inevitably, crime will also increase greatly.

Sadly, Americans cannot do much about this impending crisis. They can only rant and vent about it and raise awareness of its disadvantages. Therefore, many creators are venting about it on all social media platforms. On X, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit, people are voicing out their frustrations, hoping it will make a difference.

Since the Senate is taking its time with the bill, people still have some time to continue making their TikTok money. If they pass the bill, then the president will sign it, giving the company 180 days to sell TikTok to an American buyer.
The Chinese government has revealed their opposition to the forced sale. Therefore, TikTok will most likely get banned if they pass the bill.