MILWAUKEE - — A bill to ban TikTok has passed the house and is now in the hands of the Senate.
It's not clear if it will pass there, but the president has said he would sign it.
TMJ4 is going beyond the headline and showing you how it will affect real people like JMatt, a Milwaukee influencer and social media coach.
And Delaney Brown and McKenna Goetz -- TikTokers and best friends who met on the app.
At the center of this issue is TikTok's parent company and its ties to the Chinese government. But is the app really a security threat? We asked JMatt. "If I was concerned about the information that companies had of me, I wouldn't have a smartphone," he said.
When it comes to data harvesting he believes it's not just TikTok. "A lot of apps are doing it. I think we just need better privacy policies in general for what our apps are allowed to and not allowed to do," he continued.
More than half a million people hear Delaney Brown's voice via her TikTok account, but on this issue, she wants to reach a very specific audience — lawmakers. "Do not ban TikTok. Please! I'll be so upset. I'll cry."
Many influencers say their wallets could take a hit. JMatt has been able to monetize social media to the tune of several thousand dollars a year. "I've had years where it's been maybe four grand, and then there's other years where it's definitely over 10."
But Delaney says TikTok's true value is in the connections created. "In high school I was like okay... there's no one like me, who thinks the sam, who does the same stuff, but TikTok made it so open."
She found a virtual home in the LGBTQ community when she downloaded the app in 2019. "Now one of my best friends lives in Portland, and that's how we connected," she continued. "I just love that. I think that's the main thing I love about TikTok."
TikTok is also where she met her best friend McKenna Goetz, who thinks House lawmakers are out of touch. "I guarantee almost none of the people who voted for it have ever even been on TikTok."
As the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate creators are eyeing other platforms. "There's places to go for sure," said JMatt. "I post videos on 7 different platforms."
Delaney does too, "YouTube shorts are the way to go," she added. But still calls the thought of TikTok being shut down, terrifying. "It concerns me because if I lost the app, oh my gosh, I think a part of me would leave too."
Even if the bill becomes law, TikTok will not just vanish from the phones of more than 170 million Americans.
Whatever happens, it has already made history. This is the first time a chamber of Congress has passed legislation that could cause a social media platform to go dark.
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