KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the future of the popular TikTok app up in the air, KSHB 41's Lily O'Shea Becker spoke with a local business and an entrepreneur about what the uncertainty means for their businesses.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance, which has raised private and national security concerns among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
A bipartisan law signed last year gave ByteDance a timeline to sell the app to a U.S.-based company before a ban would take place.
On Saturday, the app became unavailable to 170 million users across the United States before federal law went into effect on Sunday that shut down the app's operations. The app was restored on Sunday.
"This weekend, when it went dark for the first time, it was like, 'Woah, OK, this is real now," said Kansas City real estate agent Rachel Kilmer.
Kilmer is known as rachtherealtorkc on TikTok, where she's accrued over 20,000 followers and 626,000 likes.
"I get about 30 to 40% of my business from organic leads from social media, and a big chunk of that is TikTok," she said.
Every day, Kilmer posts humorous TikToks catered toward Kansas Citians. She said she's not only built a presence on TikTok but a community.
"So they reach out and say, 'Hey, I want to buy a house, but I don’t know where to start.' I always tease them and say, 'Well, picking a random girl from the internet to make the biggest financial decision of your life is a bold move, but let's do it,'" she said.
But that could all change for Kilmer.
"I really am going to have to change my strategy this year if TikTok goes away or even if it sells to another company and the algorithm changes," she said.
According to TikTok, 7 million small businesses use the app. That includes McLain's Bakery.
"Social media is something that is really important to us and crucial to us as a small business here in Kansas City," said Cassidy Garr, director of guest experience at McLain's Bakery.
Garr said TikTok's algorithm expands McLain's presence beyond Kansas City to people all over the United States in ways other social media platforms do not.
"So, we had a video on TikTok go, I would say, semi-viral — like half a million views, which is like a lot — over the holidays. And the amount of comments that came in, like, 'Do you ship? Do you ship?'" she said.
Garr said McLain's is toying with the idea of shipping its goods someday, and TikTok would help promote that additional service.
But for now, creators, small businesses and entrepreneurs are left wondering.
"If TikTok actually goes away, what're we going to do? How does it impact us as creators?" Garr asked.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that calls on the Attorney General not to enforce the law for 75 days to allow the parties to figure out a potential solution.
—
KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.