TikTok ban would have 'severe repercussions' for my business - U.S. entrepreneur

Record ID: 1717692

  • Title: TikTok ban would have 'severe repercussions' for my business - U.S. entrepreneur
  • Date: 24th March 2023
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 23, 2023) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) HEARING IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2023 03:59
  • Keywords: Congress Hearing Influencer TikTok Tori Dunlap
  • Location: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON AND WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON AND WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Lawmaking,North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003988123032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday (March 23) grilled TikTok's chief executive Shou Zi Chew about potential Chinese influence over the platform, TikTok users such as Tori Dunlap worried that a potential ban on the social media app in the United States could have "severe repercussions" for their businesses.
    Dunlap is the founder and CEO of Seattle, Washington-based HerFirst100K, a company that promotes financial literacy and independence among women.
    She and her 15 employees rely on TikTok to help her promote her book, Financial Feminist, and a podcast by the same name, as well as speaking engagements and financial coaching services. HerFirst100K boasts 2.3 million TikTok followers, more than it has attracted on any other social media platform.
    The 28-year-old entrepreneur fears a U.S. government crackdown on TikTok could be a big concern for the company she has slowly built over 6 years.
    "And we're starting to have a lot of more serious conversations as a team internally," Dunlap says.
    "Well, if the ban happens, what does that mean for our business? How do people continue to connect with us?"
    At the Capitol Hill hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, lawmakers such as Republican committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers faulted TikTok for what they said was its wide-ranging collection of personal data from users.
    Dunlap argues that such data privacy concerns are in no way unique to TikTok.
    "I think that most people I probably say under the age of 40 understands again, the cost of doing business online means that your data is going to somebody somewhere," Dunlap says.
    "I think it all comes down to the fact that it feels different and potentially more jarring when it's a government and a country that is far away that we might not fully understand and that we're currently at odds with. Many companies here have been using similar amounts of information, sometimes even more information."
    Over five hours of testimony, Chew repeatedly denied the app shares data or has connections with the Chinese Communist Party, amid combative questioning, and argued the platform was doing everything to ensure safety for its 150 million American users.
    "We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government," Chew said.
    (Production: Tom Rowe)
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