On Jan. 20, newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump signed the “Application of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to TikTok” as an Executive Order which gives ByteDance — the Chinese internet technology company that owns TikTok — 90 more days to find a U.S.-based company to purchase the app.

Alexa Alesi, a 2024 FAU political science and government alumna, has slowly built her platform over the past year, earning about $500 a month from her content on the app. She explains that when she first heard about the ban, she was disheartened. 

“I didn’t believe in [the ban] too much, and then when it came on Saturday night, I ended up not going to work because of this whole thing — I wanted to get my last final hours before it was shut down. That night, I was like, ‘Oh no — don’t do this to me,’” she said. 

This agreement to postpone the sale wasn’t made without consequences, with TikTok being temporarily banned for over 12 hours last Saturday night. 

At around 10 p.m. on Jan. 17., 170 million U.S. users of the social media platform TikTok were met with a message on their screens when opening the app. 

“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” 

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, was banned due to a Jan. 17. U.S. Supreme Court ruling in TikTok v. Garland gave ByteDance until Jan. 19. to sell the app to a U.S.-based company or be met with a country-wide ban. However, ByteDance was unsuccessful in these efforts, allowing the ban to be upheld by the U.S. government, issued on Jan. 19.

Emmanuel Carré, a 2024 FAU communications alumnus and social media stand-up comedian, has accumulated over 2.6 million followers and 83.4 million likes on the platform. He expressed what that could potentially mean for him.

“I was really upset. It took me two and a half years to build this — to build 2.6 million followers and 2.6 million people to wait for what I have to drop weekly. It’s kind of annoying to see that going away,” he said.  “I would be really upset if I didn’t have other platforms, such as Instagram, to redirect my followers.”

The app started out as Musical.ly in 2014, a lip-synching app based in Shanghai, China. According to BBC, the app was bought by ByteDance in 2018, allowing it to become TikTok. 

Carré began to post content 12 years ago on YouTube, posting skits and stories. After being diagnosed with a serious heart condition in 2020, he began to take his social media platforms seriously, allowing him to lean into his creativity and discover TikTok, which was just gaining popularity then.

“It made me realize that I wanted to pivot back to my content creation days because I was quite happy when I was creating. And I just heard about this platform that everyone was talking about, TikTok,” he said. “It was a faster way to reach followers.”

The threat of a ban in the United States began on August 6, 2020, when President Trump signed “Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok” due to privacy concerns about American data being sold and downloaded by the Chinese government, allowing for a ban on the app after 45 days. However, the company was able to halt its ban due to an injunction, or cease of action, against the Trump Administration on September 27, 2020. Biden successfully overturned the Executive Order in June of 2021. 

After joining the app in 2024 in light of his Presidential campaign, Trump began to take a very different stance on the app, claiming that the app protects citizens’ first-amendment rights.

While signing the Executive Order to protect the app on his first day in office, he shared, “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally.”

In a recent post on Truth Social, a conservative social media site owned by Trump, he shared that the U.S. should own 50% of TikTok and hopes to find a solution soon. 

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions,” he said. 

Tristin Trivers, an FAU business student and social media influencer who started making motivational and wellness content across Instagram and TikTok in 2021, believes that Trump won’t allow the app’s ban.

“I don’t think he will let it go because it helped him with the younger generation’s popular vote. I think he’s going to team up with the bigger boys that have some money, like Elon Musk,” he said.

Trivers refers to speculation that Elon Musk, U.S.-based tech mogul and founder of Tesla, will purchase the app. Along with Musk, others who have considered purchasing the app include the likes of Frank McCourt, owner of McCourt Global, and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary.

Trivers also shared how TikTok, unlike other social media platforms, allowed him to reach millions of people without a large following.

“TikTok allowed me to reach an audience without even having followers, and I feel like on TikTok, you don’t need the follower count — any video can go viral,” he said.  

Due to the creation of the Creator fund, which officially allows content creators on TikTok to earn revenue based on views, likes, and follows, Trivers was able to monetize his content and create brand deals more easily. He believes that although the ban will alter his content creation revenue, companies and influencers will need to pivot to other platforms to secure a new source of income. 

Alesi shares that although she is still in the process of joining the Creator Fund, she has secured countless brand deals and promotional opportunities, which have become a large part of her income as a social media influencer.

‘I get a commission off of every single sale that I sell of every product that [companies] send me. I get a whole thing of free products from TikTok shop,” she said. “What’s nice is that on my first month, I was making like five dollars, the next month — maybe ten bucks, and now I’m at least $500 a month.” 

Trivers similarly shares his experience with the platform. However, he feels strongly that if the ban ensues, content creators like himself and companies will have to pivot to other platforms to compensate for the loss. 

“This is where a lot of my income comes from, especially TikTok, but my view on it is that I will pivot to new platforms,” Trivers said. “There’s a lot of companies that rely on TikTok as their main strategy for marketing — I think that they will have to resort back to other platforms as well.”

Through TikTok, Trivers has been able to secure deals with many companies, including C4 Energy, Shoe Carnival and Beckett Simonon. He explained that the best deal he has secured through his work on TikTok has been with Amazon as a student. 

“I am an avid Amazon user — so that deal was pretty cool. It’s their student program, so since I am a student, it aligns with my content and the things I like. It’s a pretty cool one, and it’s long-term too, which I like as well,” he said. 

Angelo Galestro, best known as “Cousin Angelo” to the Costco Guys fanbase, has also developed a large following on TikTok, garnering over 112 thousand followers. He explained that TikTok’s algorithm allows for a more personalized platform where users can easily find content they are interested in. 

“I think that it’s so unique how the algorithm is designed; it’s so personal. I know a lot of algorithms are personalized, like Instagram, but TikTok feels extra personal, and it feels like it really understands you,” he said.

He explained that TikTok allows users to express themselves and escape reality and that it allows creators like him to make others laugh.

“I feel like every TikToker and every person has their own purpose, and the stuff we do, you’re not going to be watching it and gain any necessary knowledge to live your life, but it’s different — it’s serving the purpose of entertainment,” he said. “I think that there’s so much harsh stuff in the world that sometimes that’s all you need, to go on your phone and not be motivated and not thinking about these real-world things.”

Alesi explained that the app has allowed her to connect with and reach a community of people who inspire and motivate her. 

“There are so many supportive people that I became friends with… through this app,” she said. “It’s all about the community. If it were a mean community, I probably would’ve been like, ‘I can’t do this,’ but every day someone is encouraging you. People don’t understand that social media can actually have a positive outcome.” 

Although the futures of the platforms these creators have built over the past couple of years are yet to be determined, they are motivated to continue sharing their content with others, whether that means moving their content over to other platforms.

Gabriela Quintero is the Student Life Editor for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, you can contact Quintero at gquintero2022@fau.edu.