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One Small Businesses Owner Concerned About Suggested TikTok Restrictions One Small Businesses Owner Concerned About Suggested TikTok Restrictions

By Isabel Flores

ISABEL FLORES: Last week’s F-C-C Meting sent people into a frenzy concerning TikTok bans again, after the idea was first brought up during the Trump Administration.

Meg Craig is the General Manager of Syracuse university’s Orange Television Network and is a professor in several Newhouse Departments.

Craig broke down how talks of banning TikTok from the app store is connected to politics.

MEG CRAIG: TikTok is heavily focused on a younger audience and that audience may overwhelmingly not hold the same ideals as, for example, a right-wing political group might.

FLORES: While some individuals are afraid that TikTok is harming the community, others are using it to bring it together.

Sarah Simiele, owner of the Curd Nerd cheese shop, has amassed more than 96 thousand followers on TikTok by creating content that educates viewers on all sorts of cheesy topics.

SARAH SIMIELE: I like creating content because I get people who come in and they know just a little bit more than they would’ve if they hadn’t watched my videos. They know, now, a flavor profile or where it’s made, how it’s made, the cheese-making style.

FLORES: Simiele says if the app were to be banned, small businesses would suffer, even saying she would probably be forced to shut down since about half of her customers found her job through TikTok.

SIMIELE: So, it’s not just like my business that it’s helping, it helps my community, it helps our community as a city. And I really think banning it would absolutely destroy a lot of small businesses.

FLORES: Simiele says making content people enjoy makes her feel closer to her community and hopes that her community becomes closer through her shop. In Syracuse, Isabel Flores, N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Last month, he stated that TikTok is an app merely used as spyware by countries like China and should, therefore, be banned from the app store. 

Carr seems to have started a movement against the app by right-wing individuals that is now starting to gain more traction.

On Sunday, Republican Representative Mike Gallagher said TikTok is “digital fentanyl” for children that is tied in with Chinese Communism and should be banned.

This isn’t the first time talks of a TikTok ban have occurred, with Trump having started the idea of banning the app during the pandemic in 2020.

Syracuse University Professor Meg Craig said that even though former President Trump is out of office, he is still making moves to run for office.

“I think that as we’re heading into a midterm election next week, all of this kind of stuff is going to be at the forefront again,” said Craig. “It’s not coincidental timing.”

TikTok is known for being a primarily left-wing app, so having this platform running as it does could pose a threat for conservative nominees.

The FCC does not have the authority to ban TikTok.

While many do want TikTok banned from an app store, there are others who depend on the platform for revenue and publicity.

While many are part of the Creator Fund which helps creators get paid directly for the content they post, many individuals depend on TikTok to promote businesses and products.

Sarah Simile is the owner of small cheese shop “The Curd Nerd” in which she helps to educate viewers about cheese.

She said that if TikTok were to get banned, small businesses everywhere would be hit extremely hard.

“I would venture to say more than half of our customers found out about us from TikTok,” said Simiele. “So more than half of my sales are from TikTok, which is a massive amount of income, that without that, we would have to close the doors.”

While there have been no set moves to ban TikTok from the app store, the unpleasant sentiment towards the app seems to be growing.

 

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