LA TikTok Influencer And Small Business Owner Face Career Uncertainty As Senate Takes Up Bill To Ban The App

When Canadian TikTok influencer Naomi Leanage got her American visa last October, it was the realization of a lifelong dream of living in Los Angeles where she could further her career. But now, with the U.S. House of Representatives passing legislation last week that could potentially result in a nationwide TikTok ban, that dream is in jeopardy.

“It's definitely a recipe for anxiety,” said Leanage, who estimates that around 90% of her income comes from TikTok.

TikTok for small business

Citing its own data, TikTok said 40% of small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. found the app “critical to their existence.”

According to TikTok, these businesses that advertised on the app generated around $15 billion in revenue in 2023 and contributed $5.3 billion in taxes last year alone.

Brandon Hurst told LAist he relies on the social media app for his business, Brandon The Plant Guy. After losing his job at the start of the pandemic, he began selling plants on different social media platforms. But as people began going back to work, he said his business suffered, so he began selling on TikTok. Over the past 11 months, he said he's sold more than 50,000 plants on the app.

Brandon Hurst, The Plant Guy.

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Courtesy of Brandon Hurst

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“On average, we would probably do maybe 10 to 20 sales a week prior to TikTok and now we're doing between 600 to 800,” he said.

Hurst traveled to Washington, D.C., on TikTok’s invitation (the company did not pay for him to be there) where he spoke to lawmakers before the House voted on the bill.

“When we had gotten there on Monday, there were only about I think 12 House members that were going to vote against the bill,” he said. “When they ended up voting, there were over 65 that voted against it once they had heard from us.”

This gives him confidence that the Senate “will do the right thing” and not pass the bill.

TikTok alternatives

If an outright ban of the app were to happen, Leanage has been looking at creating content for other platforms, such as YouTube.

“It's just like any other career, you have to pivot,” she said.

But Leanage considers TikTok life-changing and hopes to continue her influencer career. “It's given me financial freedom and security, insane opportunities,” she said. “I've been able to work with some of my favorite brands that I remember growing up, especially as a child of immigrant parents, we couldn't even afford it.”

Social media safety

The legislation now has to go through the Senate.

If the ban passes in the Senate and is eventually signed by President Joe Biden, TikTok’s owners — Beijing based ByteDance — will have to find another buyer for the app within six months or face the ban.

House lawmakers say the app poses a national security threat as it allows outside governments, namely China, to spy on Americans and interfere with the electoral process by favoring certain content.

Hurst says that while “we definitely need laws in place that protect our data," concerns shouldn't be focused specifically on TikTok.

But Leanage says she’s not concerned and believes TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s video messages about how user data and privacy is protected.

“I believe him — I think it might just be an excuse that they're using to try to ban a competitor of Meta and Google,” Leanage said.