TikTok recently warned in a court filing that if the U.S. government decides to implement a ban on TikTok starting January 19, 2025, small businesses and social media creators in the U.S. could lose up to $1.3 billion in revenue within a month. If this ban persists, it will significantly impact those who rely on TikTok for marketing and content creation.
Blake Chandlee, President of Global Business Solutions at TikTok, stated that if the ban extends beyond a month, the financial losses will be more severe. He revealed that U.S. small businesses alone could lose over $1 billion in revenue, and the income of about 2 million U.S. creators could significantly decrease, with projected losses nearing $300 million.
This warning comes after TikTok and ByteDance appealed against the U.S. government's national security law. According to this law, if ByteDance fails to sell TikTok within the stipulated time, Apple and Google's app stores will no longer support TikTok, rendering the app completely ineffective in the U.S. market. TikTok and ByteDance plan to seek a review from the U.S. Supreme Court, attempting to overturn the decision by the D.C. Federal Appeals Court, which upheld the ban.
During the legal proceedings, TikTok has requested the court to temporarily block the ban from taking effect until the Supreme Court issues a final ruling. TikTok claims that if the ban is enforced, approximately 7 million U.S. accounts that rely on the platform will be affected, and those accounts have contributed billions of dollars to the U.S. economy through TikTok's advertising and marketing features.
According to the latest economic analysis, TikTok not only provides significant growth opportunities for creators and small businesses, but its advertising and organic traffic also contribute substantial revenue to the U.S. GDP. The report shows that through its advertising and marketing, the TikTok platform contributed $24.2 billion to the U.S. GDP in 2023, with TikTok's operations alone making an additional $8.5 billion contribution to the U.S. economy.
TikTok indicated that if the ban takes effect, it could have a profound impact on the U.S. economy, especially on small to medium businesses and creators. Therefore, the platform continues to seek legal support to prevent the ban from being enforced and to avoid further economic loss.
Currently, TikTok and ByteDance are working to resolve the issue through legal means to avoid the widespread economic repercussions of the ban.
