By Seer Dareen

(Reuters) – American content creators on TikTok urged their followers to subscribe to their channels on rival platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Alphabet’s YouTube after a federal appeals court ruled the social media app could be banned if they didn’t is sold to a US supplier. resident company until January 19th.

TikTok has become a major digital force in the US as it has grown to 170 million US users, particularly younger people drawn to its short, often irreverent videos. It has siphoned advertisers from some of the biggest U.S. players and added the TikTok Shop commerce platform, which has become a marketplace for small businesses.

Concerned that TikTok’s Chinese owners are collecting information on American consumers, the US Congress has passed a law requiring its owner, China-backed ByteDance, to divest its TikTok in the US or face a ban . On Friday, a federal appeals court upheld the law.

Threats from politicians and others towards TikTok have been increasing for years, leading some users to reject recent threats. That appeared to change on Friday, with the prospect of a ban in just six weeks. An appeal to the Supreme Court is still possible.

“For the first time I realize that a lot of what I have worked for could disappear,” Chris Mowrey, a Democratic social media influencer with 470,000 TikTok followers, told Reuters. “I don’t think there’s been enough talk about how damaging it will be from an economic perspective for small businesses and creatives.”

On the app, viewers and content creators expressed concerns and confusion. Many said they doubted the platform would survive and were prepared for the worst.

Chris Burkett, a content creator on TikTok whose men’s lifestyle videos are followed by 1.3 million people, said he didn’t think the platform would last. “I don’t think this app has much longevity in the United States,” he said in a video post, urging his audience to follow him on other social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, X and Threads.

“We’ve put so many years and so much time into building our community here,” said food travel content creator SnipingForDom, who has 898,000 followers on the app. Although he didn’t believe the end of TikTok was near, he still encouraged his followers to reach out to him on his Instagram page.

Others were also waiting for more information. Sarah Jannetti, a TikTok Shop consultant, said her clients aren’t worried about a possible TikTok ban and won’t move their business “until they see something more concrete.”

(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru, Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, Stephanie Kelly and Arriana McLymore in New York; Editing by Peter Henderson and David Gregorio)