Callie Goodwin, of Columbia, S.C., holds a sign in support of TikTok outside the Supreme Court, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Washington. Goodwin, a small business owner who sells personalized greeting cards, says 80% of her sales come from people who found her on TikTok. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-01-17T21:13:08Z NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. is inching closer and closer to a potential TikTok ban with the nations highest court upholding a law thats set to halt new downloads of the app starting Sunday. But many questions around what exactly this ban will look like, and whether it will actually be enforced, remain.That puts millions of users and content creators in limbo particularly influencers and small business owners who have come to rely on the mega-popular social media platform as a source of income.Among those individuals is Terrell Wade, a comedian, actor and content creator with 1.5 million followers on TikTok under the handle @TheWadeEmpire. Wade, who has turned his TikTok presence into a full-time job, said he expects two days of chaos as the Sunday deadline nears.At this point, I really dont know what to believe, Wade told The Associated Press. In a unanimous decision on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that will ban TikTok unless its sold by its China-based parent company before Jan. 19 ruling that a risk to national security posed by the platforms ties to China overcomes First Amendment concerns about limiting free speech on and by the app. A sale does not appear imminent, meaning the ban should go into effect Sunday. But the ruling also arrives just days before the inauguration of a new president. President Joe Bidens administration has maintained that TikTok must change its ownership to address national security concerns, but signaled that it wont enforce the law on Sunday, the Democrats final full day in office. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that actions to enforce the law will fall to the new administration due to the sheer fact of timing. Meanwhile, Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who once also tried to ban TikTok, has now vowed to preserve access to the platform. But what his options will be following Mondays inauguration remains unclear. Among other points of confusion is what a ban on TikTok will look like. Experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users devices once the law takes effect. But new users wont be able to download it and updates will not be available. That will eventually render the app unworkable, the Justice Department said in court filings. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless its sold by its China-based parent company. President-elect Donald Trump vowed he could negotiate a solution, and the Biden administration has signaled it wont enforce the law. All of this is a reminder to the creator community that social media platforms can come and go, notes Kelsey Chickering, a principal analyst at Forrester, stressing the disruptions TikTok creators and influencers will feel if the ban takes effect. If access to is lost, she adds, many will have to pivot and re-build their presence on other platforms.While bracing for a potential Sunday ban, Wade is among creators who hope that something happens to avert the shutdown, although he thinks he has enough followers on other platforms to stay afloat.Im still remaining optimistic, he said.Still, many continue to express fears over the potential of losing TikTok.Janette Ok, a full-time content creator based in Los Angeles, says TikTok is the primary platform she uses today. As an influencer and also an artist, she says the platform has helped her make brand deals and promote her music bringing opportunities that I never believed I could experience in my lifetime. Ok was also among influencers who TikTok brought to Washington in 2023 to lobby for the preservation of the app, and remembers a ban being discussed as far back as 2020. And as someone who is Asian, the efforts to ban TikTok over the years have also felt a little xenophobic, she added.I hear all these different things, and I dont know what to believe so thats where Im very frustrated. Im confused. Im disappointed, Ok said. Its a beautiful app, its brought so many people together, its changed a lot of peoples lives, and for it to just be taken away like that feels ... so not American.Jordan Smith, a former WNBA player who operates The Elevated Closet in Austin, Texas a clothing brand for tall women depends on TikTok and TikTok Shop to find customers that fit her niche demographic thats difficult to specifically market to otherwise. On TikTok Ive just been able to find that audience so much easier, she said. She fears losing TikTok will hurt her business, and shell miss it personally, too. So shes following what people are saying will happen on Sunday and hopes a ban might be diverted.It kind of seems like Bidens kind of pushing it off to Trump, she said. So people have hopes that maybe we have a few more days and it wont go dark on Sunday, but I dont really know.Alejandro Flores-Munoz owns a catering business in the Denver area called Combi Taco, or @combicafe on TikTok. TikTok helped him reach customers without spending money on marketing, he said. He was optimistic that TikTok would stick around until he heard todays Supreme Court decision. Up until today, I was extremely optimistic. And after todays Supreme Court decision to uphold the banned or the sale of TikTok, I weigh my options, he said. But honestly, its very disheartening, specifically because I truly did rely on the app for my business and my growth of my business.Going viral on TikTok helped Ruben Trujillo market his Cafe Emporos Coffeegrams, a card that includes coffee, tea or hot chocolate. He said hes growing frustrated with the ever-evolving politics surrounding the ban.Its kind of like they keep putting the ball in each others court, but whos going to make the decision? he said. He said small business owners are told to be creative, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, he said. And a lot of people did that, and its like those bootstraps are being cut now._____Associated Press reporters Haleluya Hadero in South Bend, Indiana, and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report. WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Grantham-Philips is a business reporter who covers trending news for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto MAE ANDERSON Anderson reports for The Associated Press on a wide range of issues that small businesses face. She is based in New York. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site