TikTok ban bill: Popular Philly influencer ‘Josh Eats Philly’ sounds off 'How can this happen?'
PHILADELPHIA - The clock is ticking for TikTok, as the days of scrolling on the popular social media app could be numbered after President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday that will ban the app in the United States unless it’s sold within a year.
The measure gives Chinese company, ByteDance, which owns the app, nine months to sell and another three months if the sale is in progress and if that doesn't happen, that's when the app will be banned, but court challenges could stall it even more.
Popular Philadelphia food influencer, Josh Moore, also known as ‘Josh Eats Philly,’ shared his thoughts on the ban bill that could impact creators like him significantly if banned.
"I just think it's absolutely crazy. That;'s the first thing I was thinking. Number 1, how can this happen? It is so unprecedented," said Moore.
He has 163,000 Instagram followers and a growing TikTok following of over 42,000.
"From a monetary aspect, especially as an influence, so many brand partnerships are based on number of followers and your exposure on different apps…that's gonna be hard dollars when it comes to brand partnerships," said the food influencer.
Lawmakers are concerned TikTok is a security risk, providing the Chinese government with access to American data, and want to force the parent company to sell.
"There's a lot of creativity. I think it's great people can make a living as social media influencers, but at the end of the day, this entity should be controlled by, not the Chinese communist party," said Senator Mark Warner (D) Virginia.
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TikTok’s CEO denies that and plans to fight the law in court.
"Make no mistake. This is a ban, a ban on Tik Tok and a ban on you and your voice. Politicians may say otherwise, but don't get confused, many who sponsored the bill admit Tik Tok ban is their ultimate goal," said Chew, CEO of TikTok.
‘Josh Eats Philly’ says it goes way beyond social media influencers and content creators like himself.
"For small businesses, so many of them use Tik Tok, and social media to grow and audience and get the word out about what they are doing, and now they are going to lose that," said Moore.
Social media influencers say with a potential U.S. TikTok ban looming, they will probably start to diversify in the next year turning to YouTube and investing more time and energy on Instagram and going back to Facebook.