"$1.3B loss of GDP is insane" — Netizens react to TikTok ban reportedly set to affect 7 million businesses

On Saturday, January 18, a tweet about TikTok's ban impacting small businesses in the US was uploaded by @FearedBuck. The tweet was captioned:

"After TikTok is banned, over 7 million businesses that rely on the platform may go out of business or have to find alternative strategies. TikTok reports that this could cost small businesses over $1.3 billion in the first month."

The tweet has since gone viral, receiving over 565K views and 9K likes. Netizens are reacting to it, with one of them commenting:

"$1.3b loss of GDP is insane man we need to save this app."

Some netizens consider the looming ban on the platform catastrophic for those who relied on it to pay their bills.

"imagine this generations recession is caused by a app shutting down that is so gen x," commented an X user.

"banning tiktok in the USA will leave so many people jobless and the country didn’t even think about that… so many people survive by creating content on that platform," added another one.

"because who cares about the GDP am I right? well I mean you said you did but you don't care if the people get more poor and the meta stocks go up," replied a third one.

Meanwhile, others speculated that the ban was supported by the wealthy, who prevented the evolving economy of the country.

"Honestly half the reason they banning this is cause rich ppl don’t want the economy evolving into having more entrepreneurs and want ppl working for them," posted a fourth user.

"They still got instagram,Facebook and Twitter," wrote a fifth one.

"Its bad tbh, they should figure out a way to keep that app going. Alot of people gonna lose they job and future opportunities," commented a sixth user.

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The Supreme Court ruling upheld the TikTok ban law

The tweet comes a day after the Supreme Court reached the decision on the app's pending ban law. On Friday, the court upheld the law that required ByteDance—the app's Chinese parent company—to divest its ownership of the app by Sunday or face an effective ban in the US, CNBC News reports.

The decision, which was reached with a unanimous vote of the jurors, sides with the Biden administration and upholds the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. President Joe Biden had signed the act in April 2024.

The Supreme Court's opinion states:

"There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."

Per the news outlet, ByteDance has refused to sell the app so far, which means that US users are at risk of losing access to the platform this weekend.

Following the court's decision, Donald Trump also posted about it on his social media app, Truth Social, writing that the decision was expected and "everyone must respect it," adding:

"My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!"

Trump, who is currently the President-elect, will be inaugurated as America's 47th President on Monday, January 20—a day after the deadline of the app's sale or ban.

Among the tech leaders invited to the inauguration ceremony is Shou Chew, the CEO of the platform.

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Chew, who is expected to attend the ceremony, has previously thanked Trump in a video for "his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available" in the US. Per the CEO, the usage of the platform is a First Amendment right, adding that over 7 million American businesses use it to make money and find customers.