Is TikTok getting banned? All the latest information and what creators need to know

Have you scrolled TikTok lately? If you follow any U.S.-based creators, you’ve probably noticed something brewing.

They’re starting to talk about life after TikTok.

To be sure, there’s nothing set in stone yet. Reuters reports that a U.S. Federal appeals court recently ruled that TikTok can be banned if the company isn’t sold to a U.S. company by January 19, 2025.

Despite some 170 million TikTok users in the U.S., there’s a chance all these creators can have the rug pulled out from under them.

In response, TikTok creators are scrambling. Some have told their followers to check them out on other platforms, while others publicize their complaints and worries. 

But what are the actual odds TikTok will be banned in the U.S.? And if it does happen, what are the key dates and strategies you’ll need to know if you rely on a TikTok audience for your creator income?

Let’s dive in.

Is TikTok getting banned?

In the U.S., the possibility of TikTok getting banned has been in the works for years. 

American lawmakers have been worried about foreign influences. TikTok’s owner, Chinese-backed company called ByteDance, has been under scrutiny from U.S. legislators.

TikTok creators have gotten increasingly worried as the U.S. Congress did more than raise its eyebrows. In fact, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest its TikTok holdings in the U.S. If ByteDance doesn’t comply, they’ll face a nationwide ban. That means if you’re a U.S. citizen, you wouldn’t even see TikTok in your app store, let alone be able to use it.

The ban has broad support among some of the government's most powerful people. For example, Attorney General Merrick Garland called the recent decision to uphold this law “an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok.”

Did the Senate pass the TikTok ban bill?

Right now, there’s an appeal pending—one that could go all the way to the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court could decline to hear the case outright—or even take up the case and rule in favor of the government’s ruling. 

If that’s the case, to meet these requirements, ByteDance would either have to sell its TikTok operations in the U.S. to a company based in the U.S or stop doing business there. 

Since ByteDance might be hesitant to give up that control to a U.S. company like Microsoft, the only other consequence is a ban. Alternatively, if ByteDance can’t find a U.S. company with the financial and technical capabilities to run TikTok in the U.S., creators on the platform are out of luck. 

There’s a legitimate possibility that TikTok may go away, leaving US creators who’ve built businesses on the platform holding the bag.

What TikTok getting banned would mean for creators

TikTok has been a boon for creators. People flock to TikTok for education, for entertainment, for fundraising, for building a side hustle, even to find links for humanitarian donations after disasters.

If TikTok getting banned does happen, American TikTok creators and users could wake up to find all of it gone.

It’s not just creators, either.

According to Time Magazine, over seven million businesses use TikTok to promote their products online.

For creators, the January 19th deadline puts a hard date on this sobering possibility. That’s why creators are diversifying their audiences across new platforms and inviting longtime TikTok followers to find them on other social channels. 

It’s as if there’s rain on the horizon, and creators are starting to build their boats.

What to do if TikTok is your primary platform

As Forbes noted, India banned TikTok in 2020 during a period of high tensions with China. India had more users on TikTok than the U.S. does—200 million vs. 170 million—and a once-prospering creator community had to get to work to think about alternatives.

For starters, there was increased demand for short-form video platforms. YouTube and Instagram offered Shorts and Reels, which gave creators some relief. As Forbes reports, many creators “successfully migrated” their audience, preventing the economic armageddon that some TikTok creators in the U.S. currently fear.

That isn’t to say we’ll necessarily experience the same thing in the United States. Creators have every right to worry about TikTok getting banned.

“I’m like, shaking—I’m so mad, I’m so anxious, because TikTok changed my life,” said Katie Wolf, a 38-year-old book editor in South Carolina, according to The New York Times.

Wolf says she finds about 80% of her clients on TikTok. If TikTok weren’t around, her major source of business would suddenly disappear—and according to Wolf, she doesn’t know how she’s going to replace that stream of clients.

If a ban goes through, what happens next? Users who already have TikTok would still have the app on their phones, but TikTok would soon be banned on app stores in the U.S., and future software updates wouldn’t come through. 

Essentially, the ban would eliminate the infrastructure that keeps TikTok downloads alive and vibrant throughout the U.S. 

That’s why so many creators are watching headlines for the alternative: the possibility that ByteDance sells its U.S. TikTok assets before January 19th, ideally to a major U.S.-based tech company. If that happens, it’s possible that life would go on for TikTok creators. 

There’s one other key consideration for creators: TikTok Shop. Forbes says the platform expects its U.S. commerce sales to rise to $17.5 billion in 2024, showing just how robust the platform is. 

By February of this year, over 80% of TikTok Shop purchases came from existing TikTok customers. 

In other words, shopping has been going so well on TikTok that businesses and creators have managed to find loyal buyers and regular customers through the platform. If a ban goes into effect, those buyers may move—and the shop may dry up.

Where TikTok creators are moving—in a hurry

Many of TikTok’s users consider it the app. It’s their daily go-to, their first phone-tap in the morning. The first place they look to shop, to connect, to laugh. With the potential of TikTok getting banned, where might all that energy go?

“When people know,” said one TikTok user, “Let me know first. Because I need to be the first one on there creating content.”

That’s an opportunity for creators. 

Alternatives to TikTok can open the floodgates on another app—potentially feeling like a new “ground floor” opportunity elsewhere in cyberspace. Of course, many of these platforms already exist. But if TikTok users start flooding other spaces, it could mean an influx of traffic to established and newer platforms alike. That’s a chance for a new creator to capture a freshly-curious audience.

What are the most popular alternatives to TikTok if it gets banned?

Community-building platforms

Platforms like Whop offer respite for TikTok creators who have gotten engagement on TikTok but never felt like it was a true “home.” The idea is to use a home base (like a whop) to build a community of followers.

This helps creators feel like they have more of a sense of ownership with their Internet presence—which comes with more control over the content they create and the style of that content.

Community-building platforms also make it possible for a creator to monetize their communities. That means a consistent stream of income that can feel more reliable than chasing algorithm-fueled virality.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts first arrived in September 2020—near the time India was banning TikTok—after some quick YouTube experiments with vertical videos in 2019.

The result has been a seismic shift in the YouTube experience, with many creators mastering the 15-to-60-second artform much in the same way TikTok creators have built their platform. YouTube shorts also serve as an advertisement for creators’ presence on YouTube, which can include live streams like TikTok’s as well as longer-form videos.

Instagram Reels

Instagram is also in the short-video game thanks to Reels, although some Reddit users highlighted the problems they have with the algorithms in a recent post here. Instagram Reels is popular, taking advantage of the platform’s tight hold on the U.S. market, but the platform is still looking for a way to balance fresh, “For You” curated content with the ability of users to manage their own algorithms.

“Instagram is the place to migrate to for brand collabs,” said Brett Owens

Founder at Afluencer. “Most brand marketers are focused on Instagram. I realize this may not be the most inspiring destination, but it is where the vast majority of the influencer and creator marketing dollars are being spent; don't be afraid to migrate over to IG and get paid."

Preparing for a possible TikTok ban

TikTok isn’t banned yet. There’s no reason to head for the hills if you have a strong TikTok following. But if you aren’t at least hedging your bets on a new platform, consider this your wake-up call.

True: you might have spent a lot of time learning TikTok. It’s not easy to toss all that hard work aside. But you can keep your TikTok account while beginning to invest in new platforms. 

However, your strategy shouldn’t be to build a new account, mention it to your followers, and hope for the best. There’s a real opportunity here. You can rethink the types of content you create, focus on the most loyal followers, and build a more lasting presence on the Internet that isn’t dependent on one company’s algorithms. 

Start thinking in terms of communities, not algorithms

Part of the fun of TikTok is going viral. You create an account, put up a few videos, and watch as your follower count climbs to levels you may have never experienced on YouTube or Instagram before. 

But a lasting Internet presence requires more than a spark. You’ve got to find ways to keep the fire stoked even if every post isn’t an immediate Internet smash. Start thinking in terms of building communities, not renting time from the algorithms. 

If you build a community on a platform like Whop, you’ll have more direct access to your audience.

These communities also offer ways to generate passive income from your content. Maybe you build a personal finance guide that invites users to join your paid Whop Community. With consistent subscriptions coming in, you can fairly and accurately estimate what your income will be every month.

Platforms like Whop also let you create options for your community. If some followers are just curious about your content and want to engage, you can create a free whop for them. If others are more serious about your content and want exclusives, they can sign up for a paid whop. 

They all fall under the umbrella of your community, but this method helps you establish something of an automatic sales funnel. Every follower isn’t just someone keeping up to date on your latest posts. They’re thinking about upgrading their subscription, about engaging more, and checking out your truly in-depth content. 

Diversify your presence online

Investors love to talk about “diversification” to reduce risk. But there’s no reason you can’t do the same with your online presence. 

Algorithms won’t ding you for having a presence elsewhere on the Internet. And while most creators know that it’s important to be present across different apps, that isn’t enough. You may have to promote yourself—and do so in a way that doesn’t sink your posts because you’re adding external links on a specific platform. Here are some options to consider:

Link-in-bio solutions
Link-in-bio platforms make it easy to take all of your links and put them under one HTML umbrella. This way, every profile you have online can go to the same place. Anyone who’s your fan is going to click on your user profile to begin with.

So give them a place to go! Tools like Linktree make it easy to show off the whole “portfolio” of your online presence.

Start repurposing old content
If you’ve been on TikTok for a while, you have a good idea of what kinds of videos resonate. You can start repurposing this for other channels—putting the same ideas into YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels.

Not every video is going to experience transcendent success every time you post it, but this can make a good introduction to the new platforms and potentially spark your success elsewhere. You’ve already put in the work—now put that old work to use.

Collaborate with other creators
Do you know any TikTok creators from your time on the platform? Maybe it’s time for a collaboration. You can co-produce videos to give each other access to new audiences, potentially crisscrossing platforms as you do. Look for ways to overlap your existing TikTok presence with an established YouTube, Instagram, or Whop presence. 

Take the Whop community Stock Dads, which collaborated with affiliate marketers who sent new signups to Stock Dads. The result was 175 new referrals and $10,000 in additional monthly income.

Centralize your own platform

Every platform can be a major stepping-stone for your career. But ultimately, you create your brand.

If you build a personal brand, you own it. You don’t have to isolate yourself to your YouTube profile page or your Instagram account. You can get started today with a simple Link-in-bio website. Or you can host your own website with links to your YouTube presence, your Instagram page, and your whop.

If you’ve been successful with TikTok, it means people like your stuff. So give those people a place to find you. Centralize your platform with other community add-ons, such as an email newsletter that helps you capture more of your audience’s attention. When you build a newsletter, you have a community that can move with you from platform to platform.

You don’t have to build this platform overnight. You can make a whop your “home base” for now. But as people come to relate to you and your content more intensely, they’ll start to see their relationship with you as more than viewing a “TikTokker” or “a YouTuber.” They’ll just see your name, know what kind of content you typically put out, and want to sign up to be a part of it—whichever way that might happen.

A great example of this is a Whop creator named Vince, who started a side business reselling items online while he worked at Apple. Initially, Vince took these items to eBay. But it wasn’t long before he realized he had an even more powerful sales pitch: the resale skill he’d developed.

Vince founded GFNF as a community where his supporters could discuss everything reselling, including concert tickets. Now that he hosts his own central community for all things reselling, GFNF’s $1.3 million annual revenue is anything but a side business.

Preparing for a potential TikTok ban

For anyone successful on TikTok, the idea of a total ban might seem like a worst-case scenario. 

But it doesn’t have to get you down, either. If you’re a TikTok-only creator, now’s the time to hedge your bets. Maybe a ban happens and maybe it doesn’t—but either way, you’re going to want to be prepared. Start diversifying your online presence and building a consistent community of followers who can move with you to other platforms.

Ready to get started? Sign up with Whop and let your users know where to find you. Time may be running out.