NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — TikTok is expected to go dark Sunday after U.S. lawmakers approved a potential ban of the app last year. It requires Tiktok's parent company Byte-Dance to sell the app to a U.S. based company.
Saturday night, some users started being unable to access the app.
However, President-elect Donald Trump may give the app more time in the U.S.
Trump told NBC News during a phone interview he will most likely give the social media app a 90-day extension, which is allowed under the law.
In fact, a message when you try to open TikTok states that Trump is working on a solution.
Even so, all the uncertainty has some local creators in limbo.
Alexa Wisnieski, who runs a custom hats business called Lex Lynn, built a following of nearly 500,000 on TikTok in the last two years.
"I'm reaching people all over the world. I've sold hats to Germany, I've sold hats to Sweden, Switzerland..." she said. "Everyone heads over to the page and they see this creative process happening with music that's often trending and they get kind of tied into that."
She's not the only creator to take advantage of the tool: Oxford Economics reports 110,00 businesses actively use the app in Tennessee. Nearly 40% say TikTok is critical to their operation.
The possibility of the app may mean losing business.
"It's the main form of my business," said Wisnieski. "It's sad to see all that work [and] feel like it's disappearing."
Either way, she hopes her work will survive on other platforms.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston
