TikTok Ban [Latest Update & What We Know)

TikTok Ban (Timeline of Events)

March 2024: The House of Representatives passed a bill that would force ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) to sell its ownership of TikTok to another company within 165 days. If they didn’t, TikTok would be banned in the US.

April 2024: The Senate sent the bill to President Biden. He signed it.

May 2024: TikTok and ByteDance sued the US federal government. They claim the bill is unconstitutional because it violates freedom of speech.

December 6th (last Friday): Both sides asked for a ruling before the pending ban on January 19th, so they went back to court.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to review the law. This effectively upholds the law set to take effect on January 19th (just 40 days away).

December 9th: TikTok asked the federal court to grant an emergency 90-day pause on its ruling upholding the law that’s set to ban the app. Then, they’ll ask the Supreme Court to take up the case.

This buys TikTok more time, delaying the case until President-elect Trump enters office on January 20th.

President-elect Trump has previously said he wants to stop the TikTok ban.

Read the latest updates here.

Where Does This Leave Us?

Still in limbo. 🫠

Here’s what will happen from here:

• The Supreme Court is not obligated to take the case.

• If they DO take on the case, they are likely to put a temporary pause on the law that would ban TikTok. The pause would remain until they make a ruling on the case.

• If they DO NOT take on the case, it’s over and TikTok is banned.

Here’s a great video that breaks this down.

What’s likely to happen? It’s unclear.

However, here’s what one lawyer thinks will happen:

• The Supreme Court is unlikely to strike down the law.

• Trump’s re-election is the last remaining glimmer of hope TikTok has.

• There are 3 ways President-elect Trump could act to help save TikTok:

  1. Convince Congress repeal PAFACAA (the law that would ban TikTok). This would be most straightforward, but the heaviest lift.

  2. Direct his new attorney general to not enforce PAFACAA. This might not be enough for companies like Apple (who run the iOD app store) or Oracle (who provides cloud hosting for TikTok) to feel comfortable continuing their involvement with the platform.

  3. Declare that ByteDance performed a “qualified divestiture” of TikTok, whether true or not. The legal language states that the “President determines” whether the divestiture qualifies.

On the flip side, TikTok’s lawyers fully believe the Supreme Court will take on the case and reverse the law.

How to Proceed as a Creator

Simply put, you need to diversify.

Start reformatting your TikToks for YouTube Shorts and Instagram.

Repost content to Flip.

Release a freebie and capture emails. Otherwise, you will have no way to access your audience if the ban goes through.

Let your audience know where they can find you should TikTok be banned.

Let us know if you want a full issue on this.

Quick Links

💰 X updates requirements for creator revenue share program.

📱 The new app some predict will fill TikTok’s shoes.

📈 How often should you post on IG? Here’s what the head of IG says.

This Week in Creator Studio

Every Thursday at 1 PM PT/4 PM ET, we interview a creator or industry expert in Creator Studio (our free Discord community!).

This week we’re bringing in Richard, Mr Beast’s former YouTube content strategist. He also founded 1 of 10, a platform that helps creators discover high-performing thumbnails, titles, and ideas.

If you want to join live and pick his brain, join Creator Studio ⤵️

See ya next week,

Karat