What UK Tiktokkers think of the US ban on the app (Picture: Getty)
TikTok content creators in the UK have criticised the latest US Senate move to ban the app in America.
It comes after the US Senate approved a controversial bill that could strip 170 million monthly users of access to TikTok.
The Senate gave TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance a nine-month ultimatum – to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the US.
Even if the US forces ByteDance to sell, China would have to approve it.
US President Joe Biden signed the TikTok bill into law today.
ByteDance called the ban ‘unconstitutional,’ saying it will challenge it in court.
Now TikTok content creators in the UK have shared how they feel about the looming ban and its impact on them.
‘A lot of TikTok creators are scared’
While there have been no signs of a similar move in the UK, several MPs have called for a ban in Britain.
Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith told Politico that Britain should also implement a ban. Labour MP Liam Byrne said he was worried about TikTok’s role in the spread of disinformation, Financial Times reports.
Many British influencers have amassed a significant following in the US where nearly half of the population uses the app, according to analysts.
Now many UK influencers are gripped by uncertainty over the future, content creators told Metro.co.uk.
Daniel Sango Antonio, aka Doctor Sango on TikTok, said around 32% of his almost 7 million followers are in the US.
Doctor Sango’s TikTok videos have 123.9 million likes (Picture: Daniel Sango Antonio)
The 24-year-old told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s going to affect me, it’s going to affect a lot of creators.
‘It’s quite mad in my opinion. I just don’t get it.’
TikTok is Daniel’s job, so a ban in the US would hit him financially if follower numbers and views plummeted.
Maks Majewski’s TikTok account thatguymaks has around 2.8 million followers.
The 21-year-old went viral after covering his family’s kitchen with 114 rolls of Christmas paper last year – one of many pranks he has posted on the app.
Maks’s viral Christmas prank (Picture: Kennedy News/@thatguymaks)
Up to 80% of his views come from the US and the ban would ‘have an impact on me as a creator and also people watching the content,’ Maks said.
Followers in the US also give him many of his ‘ideas for videos and pranks,’ he said.
Maks, who also works with around 40 influencers in the US and UK, said he is seeing the impact already on creators who get mostly paid by companies to advertise for them through collaborations.
Now companies are ‘starting to lower their budgets’ because of the ‘warning of the US ban,’ he said.
Some of Daniel’s biggest collaborations have been with US-based brands like online video game Fortnite and Bang Energy drink.
He said: ‘Creators are very worried. We definitely know it won’t be the same, it will be very difficult.’
If TikTok gets banned in the US, Daniel will rely on other apps like YouTube (Picture: Daniel Sango Antonio)
Maks said: A lot of them are scared. I don’t blame them at all – for many of them, TikTok is their only source of money.’
Daniel called for US politicians to focus their attention on ‘other apps that are inappropriate’ like OnlyFans and Pornhub.
Maks said if the US Senate wanted to get to TikTok for security concerns, they ‘need to look at Instagram, Facebook and other social media as well.’
He argued that TikTok Shop has helped ‘millions of people’ to start a business and make money out of the app. Banning it would ‘demolish a lot of small businesses,’ he said.
He added: ‘The numbers of people who can’t work and they start a small business from home, and TikTok has given them the opportunity to work from their home. You’re not just moving an app but hundreds of communities. Even the US economy would potentially suffer.’
In the UK, small businesses on TikTok contributed £1,630,000,000 to the GDP, research commissioned Oxford Economics by TikTok said.
It said regions outside London benefitted the most and supported 31,000 jobs.
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Maks said banning TikTok should not be a priority amid financial struggles, people ‘not being able to make ends meet’ and ‘wars.’
The TikTok proposal was passed in a package with four other bills, including $95,000,000,000 (£76 billion) in mostly military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Reuters reports.
TikTok said the ban would ‘trample free speech.’
Maks said it was strange the TikTok ban was put in the same bill ‘where they put aid to Israel and Ukraine’ as they were ‘different priorities.’
Both content creators said they did not think there was any ‘proper reason’ why TikTok was banned, while Daniel agreed he has thought about what would happen if user data was abused.
If TikTok will be banned in the US, he was ‘definitely going on other apps’ like YouTube, Vine and Snapchat, although ‘obviously TikTok is the main thing.’
Some US Senators are worried about links between TikTok and the Chinese government because of concern that ByteDance could share sensitive data with the Community Party.
Republican senator Steve Scalise said on X: ‘This is a critical national security issue.’
A spokesperson for TikTok told Metro.co.uk in a statement: ‘This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court.
‘We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.
‘This ban would devastate 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue investing and innovating to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans of all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired.’
In March, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry criticised the ban, saying the bill lets the US ‘stand on the opposite side of the principles of fair competition and international trade rules,’ Reuters reported.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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