LOUISVILLE, Ky. — TikTok is back online in the U.S. just hours after President-elect Donald Trump pledged an executive order Monday Jan. 20, aimed at restoring the banned app.
The U.S. ban on the social media platform went into effect late Saturday night after a bipartisan law banned TikTok over data privacy concerns.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban last week, but Trump said he plans on issuing an executive order Monday after his inauguration to temporarily delay the ban.
There are seven million small businesses on TikTok, according to TikTok. Louisville native and TikTok user Chase Stetson, who goes by Thatlawndude on the app, becomes the "snow dude" in the winter by salting parking lots.
“It's not my favorite, but you know, something to (get) me by until spring comes back around,” Stetson said.
Stetson began posting about his lawn care business on TikTok as a hobby in 2020 and said he grew a couple hundred thousand followers that first year.
He took over the lawn care business from his dad after graduating from college. TikTok helped him bring the business to another level, he said.
“People will recognize me here and there, and people call me asking to cut the grass to do some landscaping," Stetson said. "It's definitely boosted our business here in town."
He now has more than 1.3 million followers and could start his own brand online doing sponsorships. But with the recent uncertainty over whether the platform is here to stay, he said he has a backup plan.
“I kind of took the initiative to not have all my eggs in one basket being solely on TikTok," Stetson said. "That's why I kind of cross-platform posted to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube."
If a long-term ban were to go into effect, it would take away about one-third of Stetson’s reach across all social media, he said.
“I have these other accounts, but TikTok (is) my largest one, something that I’ve worked so hard on for five years just to be gone in a matter of hours," Stetson said. "It kind of stings a little bit."
TikTok posted Sunday afternoon on social media that it’s restoring service and is working with Trump on a long-term solution.
“We'll see; I'm hoping for the best but planning for the worst,” he said.
Trump also proposed the U.S. could take a “50% ownership position” in TikTok as part of a “joint venture.”