The clock is ticking for TikTok in the U.S., and millions of users, including small business owners like Brandon Hurst, are scrambling to figure out what to do. As the owner of a plant delivery business, Hurst has seen firsthand how TikTok has changed his life. “It allows me to go live, share who I am, but it also makes it easy for people to buy,” he said. Since he started selling plants on TikTok last year, Hurst, better known as “Brandon the Plant Guy,” says he has tripled his business. “In the last year we’ve been able to sell 57,000 (plants),” he said.
But with TikTok facing a potential ban in the U.S., Hurst and other small businesses may have to find a new home. The TikTok ban was signed into law Wednesday by President Biden as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package. Under the new law, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese-based owner, has nine to 12 months to sell the platform to an American owner or face being banned in the U.S.
Meanwhile, TikTok plans to file a lawsuit over the ban in federal court. One analyst believes that if TikTok were to be banned in the U.S., Meta would be one of the biggest beneficiaries. “Instagram Reels is the most natural fit,” she said. However, Enberg acknowledges that it wouldn’t be exactly the same as TikTok and that replicating its culture would be difficult
