The alarmist headlines develop louder as of late — TikTok Ban: It’s Right here! People Sound Off on TikTok Ban in Viral Rants! Say Farewell to TikTok!

Content material creators and influencers who earn their dwelling from TikTok are having a poisonous freakout and spreading misinformation about what ByteDance and the Chinese language authorities can and might’t really do.

Neither alarmed nor freaked out, we opted to do one thing wacky on this dialog and ask CMI’s chief technique advisor, Robert Rose, to take a look at the challenges via the lens of practicality. Watch this video or learn on for his take:

1. What does the TikTok invoice say?

As a result of I like you all, I learn US Home Decision 7521 (the TikTok invoice), so that you don’t should. Barely fewer than 2,00 phrases, it’s a brief invoice., however it’s nonetheless written in politician legalese. It’s not probably the most entertaining of reads.

Let’s evaluate the abstract. To make it extra entertaining, I’ll invoke my interior Jeff Spicoli (from the film Quick Occasions at Ridgemont Excessive) to clarify:

“So, dude, test it out. Proper now, TikTok’s managed by China — the uncoolest of the 5 uncool nations. And we don’t belief them. So, TikTok’s both obtained to promote themselves to anyone the president of the US says is cool, or it’s gonna be bummer metropolis, and so they’ll get the total slam and be nada in america. Oh, and even when they discover anyone gnarly to promote to, they gotta give each consumer their cool knowledge. In the event that they don’t, then the legal professional basic dude can hit ’em with this mondo $500 individual per consumer lawsuit motion.”

OK, so now you get it. TikTok should divest itself of its Chinese language management, or the U.S. will ban it. And even when it does promote, they now should give all people entry to their knowledge.

Now, let’s evaluate the likeliest outcomes from that:

2. Would a ban even be enforceable? 

For those who’ve been on the web for any time, you may surprise how the federal government would even implement such a ban. How do you block an app that’s that large? Effectively, the invoice really doesn’t BAN TikTok. It makes anybody serving to ByteDance distribute TikTok content material topic to a civil penalty.

So, the federal authorities wouldn’t go after ByteDance. The legal professional basic would sue corporations like Oracle (for internet hosting the info), Apple or Google (for supplying the app), or Comcast, Spectrum, Verizon, AT&T, and so forth. (for carrying the info).

They explicitly CANNOT go after particular person customers, workers, and even the proprietor of TikTok for utilizing the applying. So, it’s not an infraction to USE the app; It’s an infraction to DISTRIBUTE the app. The penalties are outlined at $5,000 per TikTok consumer. With greater than 100 million U.S. customers, that nice may equate to $500 billion.

For those who assume that sounds foolish — and comparatively unenforceable — I do, too.

3. Who would purchase TikTok?

Rumors abound about former politicians placing collectively funding teams and large corporations equivalent to Microsoft, Google, or Apple courting the brand new TikTok. However the act doesn’t stipulate that the brand new TikTok have to be owned by a U.S. firm. It simply can’t be managed by a “overseas adversary nation,” which suggests China (together with Hong Kong), Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

So, if a Canadian firm ended up because the winner, that could be nice. Principally, the U.S. president (whoever that’s on the time) decides what’s OK.

4. What about consumer knowledge?

If the prevailing invoice passes the Senate and is signed by the president, ByteDance (whatever the divestiture) should publish a characteristic so each individual can export ALL their content material — photos, movies, textual content, and so forth. If the corporate fails to do this, it faces a civil legal responsibility of $500 per individual.

5. When may this occur?

The U.S. Senate has not but introduced plans to convey the Home invoice to its ground. But when the invoice turns into legislation, TikTok would have six months to discover a purchaser and execute a sale. In the event that they couldn’t, TikTok could be banned, however after six months, they might come again with a purchaser that the president deems “cool.”

6. Is that this nearly TikTok?

Any social media firm managed by a overseas adversary could be topic to this legislation. However for the reason that newest short-form video platform from North Korea has but to go viral, it sort of singles out TikTok. The invoice calls out an exception for platforms that present product evaluations and journey data. That’s oddly particular, however I haven’t discovered who which may defend.   

You might even see a ton of movies saying ByteDance is prohibited from promoting itself as a result of Chinese language legislation prohibits the export of expertise. The argument appears to be that even when ByteDance needed to promote TikTok, it couldn’t. Some TikTok customers even recommend the invoice is a conspiracy created by politicians who know the Chinese language legislation and need to ban the app outright.

A ban could be the final purpose, however Chinese language legislation is irrelevant. ByteDance is NOT owned by the Chinese language authorities. It’s owned by a mix of worldwide traders, together with its Chinese language co-founders and its workers (together with 7,000 People). The Chinese language authorities has a 1% stake and board seat in ByteDance.

Moreover, the referenced Chinese language legislation does NOT embody social media algorithms.

Now, it’s truthful to say the Chinese language authorities gained’t willingly permit a sale and will even require some sort of “approval.” It’s additionally believable that ByteDance will disguise beneath the federal government’s coattails, claiming, “We’re not allowed to promote.” However to say they’re prohibited isn’t correct. And to recommend Congress is conspiring offers an excessive amount of credit score to the intelligence of the present Congress.

7. What’s prone to occur in advertising and marketing?

The quick reply shouldn’t be very a lot, and positively not within the close to time period. The Senate hasn’t even agreed to convey the invoice to the ground. They might simply delay it, rewrite it, or do nothing. This implies weeks or months of wait-and-see.

For entrepreneurs, the drama will seemingly have extra affect than the issues that occur.

TikTok has turn out to be one of many core advertising and marketing channels for many B2C manufacturers. B2B manufacturers additionally use TikTok for paid promoting, worker advocacy, and influencer advertising and marketing. In CMI’s newest analysis, 19% of B2B entrepreneurs say they use TikTok, greater than double the earlier 12 months.

The secret is to remember. In case your crew is contemplating or already utilizing TikTok as a platform, it’s most likely nonetheless a fantastic channel for you and virtually definitely will stay so for the foreseeable future. However for those who’re contemplating utilizing the platform for one thing aside from selling your different content material platforms, watch out. In case your model is contemplating a sizeable funding right into a deep editorial TikTok technique, be a little bit extra circumspect.   

For those who use TikTok as an influencer platform, you might even see a couple of of the extra influential creators go away or diversify to different platforms. Which will distract some. It can additionally create better competitors on platforms like Meta’s Reels and LinkedIn.

Simply bear in mind this: If TikTok goes away tomorrow, the eye demand won’t disappear. It can simply shift to no matter the brand new (or outdated) factor is. For those who’re ready to pivot your content material and advertising and marketing, you’ll be nice.  

As I’ve mentioned for years, the core lesson is to not construct your own home on rented land. You by no means know when the bottom will shift beneath your ft.

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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute