Bay Area content creators are anxiously awaiting a potential TikTok ban

SAN FRANCISCO — With days to go before the Supreme Court decides the fate of TikTok nationwide, Bay Area content creators are anxiously awaiting the ruling.

“Every single day you just hold your breath and wait to see what happens,” Kara Harms, known as ‘Whimsy Soul’ online, said Tuesday. “I have some brand deals that I’m going to announce in February. I don’t know if I’ll be able to ship them or not. I don’t know if I’ll be able to complete that contract and get that income.”

Harms has been making content for about 10 years, built an online portfolio extends beyond TikTok.

That’s why, she said, she understands the impact of TikTok and the effect it had on her work.

“I just don’t think the algorithms that Instagram or the other platforms would have facilitated my content as a creator like TikTok has,” she said. “I quit and went full-time (into content creation) in 2017 and hired my husband in 2018, so it was before TikTok. But I was able to explode our growth and have a better impact on my community when I had TikTok available.”

Stef Anderson, known as ‘SideofStef’ online, also posts on several social media platforms like Harms.

Both Anderson and Harms said they felt they were able to establish a better, personal connection with their followers on TikTok.

TikTok has also led to more deals with brands and connections with followers, including in-person meetings.

“The reach is much higher, I think. I feel like the algorithm is much more specific. In terms of my encounters, I think most of my people come from TikTok,” she said. “The brand partnerships I’ve gotten through (TikTok) have been out of this world.”

Next week, the Supreme Court is expected to uphold a law passed with bipartisan support in Congress last year.

The law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a government-approved company by January 19. If a sale is not completed by January 19, TikTok would be banned.

The law was passed by Congress due to national security concerns, including the possibility that the Chinese government could manipulate content and gain access to sensitive user data.

If the ban were to take effect, TikTok would no longer be available on mobile app stores. Users who already have the app downloaded on their phones will still have access, but new posts and updates would no longer be available.

“It’s like a double-edged sword because (TikTok) has a lot of my data. In order to receive payments from TikTok, they have to have a lot of information from me, which was very scary to submit initially. But then I get emails every time a single day from other companies, saying my data was compromised in a data breach, so it’s not just TikTok, it’s everywhere,” Anderson said.

“The fact that the government is going after TikTok because it’s owned by a foreign entity? I’m also concerned about how that will open the doors to things down the road. It’s a very slippery slope. Do we want to ban the BBC because it is owned by a foreign entity?” Harms said. “If (TikTok) gets banned, have a little grace for everyone on the app. Not just content creators who lose their income, (but also) the small businesses and the people who depend on TikTok to connect with their customers. It’s going to be a rough, rough couple of months.”