TikTok was officially banned in the US on January 19th, 2025 — only for the ban to be lifted 14 hours later.
“Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” A message on the app flashed as users logged back online.
This message sparked a microtrend of brands (and in some cases, NFL teams) using the message format to advertise.
The Politics of the TikTok ban
Prior to the ban’s implementation and removal, former U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation that would block the distribution of the app, if its parent company ByteDance didn’t sell it by January 19th. U.S. President Donald Trump gave the company an extension to find a buyer, thus the future of the app is foggy.
That being said, the app’s reinstation is tied into the PR mechanisms of American politics, positing the newly appointed President as the sole saviour of the app that has over 1.95 billion global users, with 167.5 million users based in the US.
This raises the question: was the app’s harried reinstation (before its future was secured) all a PR scheme to advance the popularity of President Trump? The move seemed too quick, and calculated, to be organic — and TikTok’s unsettlingly effusive thanks to the Republican President casts a dark shadow over the app’s use in the United States. This is especially true for content creators, who have built their careers around the app.
How TikTok can make you a millionaire
There are 1.3 million creators on TikTok. Incentive to use and create on the app comes from its rewarding monetization structure, which rewards creators based on the number of views per video.
“Celebrating not being unemployed!” TikTok creator Kensington Tillo wrote on her Instagram story this week, a picturesque image of a glass of white wine placed on a pool table in front of the pink sky, somewhere warm.
Most of TikTok’s revenue comes from advertising, with businesses and brands promoting their products to users on the app through a variety of methods (e-commerce in-app shopping platforms like Amazon storefronts, UGC content, strategic partnerships, branded hashtags, etc).
The correlation between businesses that use TikTok to promote their products, and TikTok’s ability to earn revenue from said businesses, largely relies on the content produced by creators. Whether they’re working with strategic brand partnerships, affiliate links or personalized recommendations, TikTok’s success is contingent on the profits of both businesses and creators.
As such, many creators like Kensington (@kensnation on the app) rely on TikTok for more than an income — it’s their career, the new, final frontier of marketing and advertising. Being a (successful) TikTok creator provides more than just free PR and swag — it can foster valuable partnerships with businesses, connections to people “in the industry” and Addison-Rae-esque stories of stardom.
As a formative TikTok creator, and an example of how consistent content creation on the platform can translate into greater success off the app (ie. movie deals, studio albums and contracts with companies like Netflix) Rae is a shining star.
Addison Rae got her start on the app five years ago, performing dances to viral songs, and has since: dropped out of college in Louisiana, moved to Los Angeles, signed a multi-million dollar, multi-year movie deal with Netflix, collaborated with Charli XCX on pop princess tracks and emulated Britney Spears on and off the red carpet. In short, Rae, having gotten her start on Tiktok, has made it — and she no longer needs to use the platform to bolster her success.
But this isn’t the case for every creator. Popular TikTok creator Halley Kate (of the infamous New York leashed-up boyfriend drama) bought a house in the Hamptons last year, based on the success of her TikTok platform, and she rents a gorgeous, spacious New York apartment with her boyfriend and their three well-groomed dogs. She does reformer pilates and orders Sweetgreen ($20+) salads daily. She’s the girl next door, similar to Rae, who came from middle class beginnings before finding success on TikTok (which she has attributed to her consistent content creation), dropping out of college to post on the app full time. The difference between Rae and Kate is that Rae no longer relies on the app for her career, and for Kate, TikTok is her livelihood. She hasn’t divested her interests, you could say. Her eggs are all in one basket.
What does the TikTok ban mean for content creators?
This highlights the repercussions of TikTok’s precarious future for creators: @texasgardenfairy, a popular TikToker, briefly started a YouTube channel prior to the app’s shutdown (and reinstation), which she has since appeared to have abandoned.
For Canadian creators, the question of making it big on TikTok hangs in the balance. Will creators across the board pivot to platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram reels? Or will they rethink their entire careers as content creators?
There’s also a world in which creators wait to see how the future of the app pans out, sitting on their hands with banked content — if this happens again.
But with the longevity of the app’s stability in the US remaining unclear, it’s difficult to say how relieved we should all be.
FAQs:
A: TikTok is being banned in the U.S. because of the contentious ownership by its parent company, ByteDance, which is what the U.S. banned for a brief period of time, forcing the app to find another home owner. The future of the app is still unclear.
A: There was talk of Red Note, the popular Chinese platform similar to TikTok in its algorithm, taking over as a replacement to the app.
A: Content creation income varies depending on the views, followers and success of the creator. The ratio is $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views, but many creators make lucrative amounts through affiliate links, TikTok shops, brand deals and more.
