The Positives and Negatives of a TikTok Ban From a Economic Point of View

As reported in this CNN article, Donald Trump delayed the TikTok ban by 75 days. TikTok went offline in the United States temporarily last Sunday before restoring their servers after Donald Trump promised that he would give TikTok an extension. In April of 2024, former president Joe Biden signed the TikTok ban into law after it passed through Congress with bipartisan support. The law required ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to divest due to national security concerns. Trump, who previously supported a TikTok ban, said that he changed his mind on the ban because he "got to use it." Trump told reporters he has "the right to either sell it or close it, and [he would] make that determination."

One big positive of a TikTok ban would be a more productive workforce in the future. Studies have shown that TikTok is linked to shortened attention spans and reduced concentration, particularly among Gen Z. Banning TikTok could potentially mitigate the negative effects that TikTok has on Gen Z, leading to a more focused and productive workforce in the future. Another positive of the TikTok ban would be that a US company could take over their place. Studies have shown that over 50 percent of Gen Z have used TikTok, so their disappearance from the market would leave a big hole to fill. Removing TikTok from the US market may incentivize domestic companies to develop alternative platforms to fill in the gap that TikTok left. Finally, because many studies have shown that TikTok is addicting, banning TikTok would remove a major distraction from school and the workplace. Removing TikTok means there would be one less reason for a student or employee to use their phone. This could lead to a more productive workplace and school environment.

While there are many good things about a potential TikTok ban, there are also many bad things. The first major negative of a TikTok ban would be the loss of revenue for small business owners and content creators. TikTok is a critical marketing and sales platform for millions of business owners. TikTok's unique algorithm allows small business owners to reach millions of potential buyers at a fraction of the cost compared to other advertising options. Reports have shown that banning TikTok could lead to a loss of over one billion dollars of revenue for small businesses. Another obvious negative of banning TikTok would be that the thousands of workers TikTok employs in the United States would be laid off. On top of the people who work directly for TikTok, there are tens of thousands of workers whose jobs are in the TikTok ecosystem whose jobs would also be at risk (i.e. marketing, e-commerce, content creation). Finally, TikTok has been a driver of innovation in the social media and e-commerce world, so a ban would hinder the growth that TikTok has made. Recently TikTok introduced a feature called "TikTok Shop," which combines entertainment with an easy and quick shopping experience. TikTok has also recently added a stem feature, where users can watch stem-related content. TikTok's goal with its new stem feature is to encourage exploration in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. TikTok is a leader in social media innovations, and banning the app would stop all the progress that they have made. Ultimately, a ban could result in layoffs, reduced economic activity, and ripple effects on industries dependent on TikTok's infrastructure.