Banning TikTok Would Devastate Small Business And Solve Absolutely Nothing

Over the last few weeks, the conversations around banning TikTok, which started a few years ago, have started to pick up momentum, media coverage, and even attention from legislators. 

While there are valid concerns about the platform, calls to ban it are based in ignorance and would cause more harm than good. 

This is an especially dangerous move when you consider how unstable the economy is right now, with inflation and interest rates soaring, tightening credit markets, declining consumer confidence, and supply chain issues.

Entrepreneurs Rely On Social Media To Market Their Businesses

Social media is the primary marketing channel for a lot of businesses today, and it plays a significant role for most businesses. 

One of the reasons so many entrepreneurs have recently adopted TikTok is because of the tremendous exposure it provides. 

Unlike social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, where organic reach is virtually zero and marketers are forced to compete amongst a saturated pool of advertisers, TikTok enables users to reach a massive audience organically, simply by posting the kind of content that other users want to see. 

Tim Herriage, Executive Director of Retail Loan Development with RCN Capital, says TikTok plays a foundational role in the company's marketing efforts today.

"We view TikTok as an authentic way to connect with our customers, specifically younger ones. On TikTok, we see more organic growth, which allows us to build a pipeline of new customers not only now, but also in the future. That's why it's become a critical component of our branding strategy," Herriage explains.

This is a powerful tool for small businesses. Especially when you consider the already high, yet still growing cost of advertising on other platforms, as well as the rapidly declining economy that’s forcing entrepreneurs to market more aggressively just to maintain their position today. 

Haitham Amin, a lawyer and content creator who has built an audience of over 1 million followers on TikTok, says the potential shutdown of TikTok by the US government would have significant implications for his business.

He said, "If the app is shut down, I would lose a substantial amount of business. I have worked very hard to build and maintain a brand on TikTok, and if the app were to shut down, I would essentially lose 3 years of hard work—and a million followers. Both my Instagram and YouTube are linked to my TikTok account. As I grew, my TikTok followers would also follow me on other platforms as well." 

Banning TikTok would strip these small businesses of a powerful and cost effective marketing tool that could enable them to stay afloat in a challenging economy. And it’s not just the entrepreneurs trying to market their own businesses who will be impacted—this will also affect countless consultants, social media agencies, and marketing firms that serve them. 

The effects are far more significant than most people realize because small business accounts for a staggering 99.9% of all jobs in the US. 

If these small businesses start to collapse, the snowball effect will have a devastating impact on the economy and nearly everyone will be negatively affected. 

TikTok Is No Different Than Other Social Media Platforms

While there are valid complaints about user privacy, that issue is not limited to TikTok.

Facebook has repeatedly faced criticism for its egregious data collection practices, yet no one is demanding to have it banned. The same applies to companies like Instagram, Twitter, and Google. And as bad as these companies are when it comes to user privacy, they don’t even come close to the abuses committed by our own government. 

If user privacy is a legitimate reason to ban TikTok, then it can be argued that literally every other social media platform should also be banned. And by that logic, the government should be disbanded as well. 

Obviously, that is an absolutely ludicrous position.

Legislators Are Unqualified To Opine On Technological Topics

I have this crazy idea that when people are responsible for making laws governing a particular industry, they should at least have a basic understanding of how that industry works. 

But our legislators clearly have a different opinion. 

If you watched any of the congressional hearings on TikTok earlier this week, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you missed it, I encourage you to go find it on YouTube. It’s also worth noting that you may have seen it without even realizing because it looked a lot like a scene from Idiocracy. 

These legislators asked some of the most ridiculous questions you could imagine, and plenty more so stupid that you probably could never imagine any human asking them. In doing so, they demonstrated their complete ignorance on the topic. 

I don’t believe our legislators should get any input on these matters for the same reason I don’t let my children make major decisions for our family—they are simply not qualified.