Thoughts on a Ban

As you are obviously aware, President Biden has signed the TikTok ban into law. Of course, this paves the way to a chaotic year of court cases around the constitutional legality of such a law and the will they/won’t they of the Chinese government interfering in ByteDance’s ability to sell TikTok.

In the meantime, we have been keeping our clients up-to-date with thoughts on how we move forward, as well as building increased flexibility into our contracts to account for the potential shutdown of the platform. Today though, I don’t want to talk about tactical advice or next steps as this moves through the judicial branch of the government. I am not going to pontificate on whether a Chinese-owned company should have this much power over American culture. But I AM going to comment on what I see as the great injustice of this law.

If ByteDance will not sell TikTok, which they have indicated they will not (or cannot), and if TikTok is actually banned in the United States, it will also mean the end of tens of thousands of small media businesses. Overwhelmingly, full-time creators on TikTok do not have large enough followings on other platforms to support a career and so, for many of them, this ban is an extinction level event.

Aside from the closing of businesses mandated - and heavily subsidized - by the government during the pandemic, I cannot think of another time outside Prohibition where legislation will be the direct cause of so many people losing their livelihoods. Mortgages will go unpaid, employees will be laid off and parents will scramble to figure out how to go on supporting their families. Influencer marketing will continue to grow and thrive, but for many creators, the end of TikTok will mean an end to their main source of income.

I have to wonder—how loud would the outcry be if this law was forcing the closure of restaurants, barber shops, or other Main Street small businesses? And what support would the government provide? As it is now, there will be no unemployment available for impacted creators; there will be no stimulus checks, no tax credits. Despite spending years building their businesses conscientiously and legally, influencers are facing the sudden closure of their businesses with no lattice of support.

Look, I understand that making money on the Internet as a creator is a privilege, and can be a lucrative one at that, but we cannot and should not let that blind us to the injustice that is inherent in this law. Influencers deserve better. As an industry, influencer marketing will continue to grow. But for all America’s small business owners, myself included, we should be able to expect more from our government in what is supposed to be a free — and fair — economy.

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PERSONAL CORNER

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I turned 40 this week, do I feel good about it? Bad about it? I think a mixture of the two is the most natural state for any milestone birthday. A celebration of a life well lived with a still burning desire to expand that life.

Seeing some of the recent Thom Browne runway looks show up at the Met Gala reminded me of the amazing audio from the FW24 show — Carrie Coon reciting “The Raven” over dissonant violin, worth a listen (starts at 2 minutes in).

Speaking of birds and aging, I find myself wanting more and more to build a cabinet of curiosities. It would include one of these Penny Thompson kinetic sculptures.

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Cheers,
JAMES NORD
Founder & CEO
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