LOS ANGELES When Cassidy Jacobson was 13 years old, she posted a video of herself dancing on the popular app TikTok.
She found out six years later that her Cassidy J account would have 1.5 million followers on the short-form video platform with fans drawn to her love of dance and hair care.
Many lawmakers have been pressured by the Biden administration to ban the popular Chinese-owned social media app in the United States, saying that it could be used for data collection, content censorship and harm to children's mental health.
Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban.
Jacobson is preparing for the possibility that she may have to take her content elsewhere if the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, is no longer allowed to provide the app in the United States.
Jacobson said that the goal of a content creator is to have a solid community and that you don't just want to focus on one app. TikTok is kind of rocky right now.
Whether it is creating new content for the YouTube reels or taking her TikTok content and transferring it over to Instagram, the influencer is making sure to diversify her content.
At a tense congressional hearing on Thursday, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew faced tough questions from lawmakers.
Chew told the hearing that the app is free from any manipulation and that we do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government. Freedom House Research Director for Technology and Democracy Allie Funk said there are less severe options than banning the app outright.
She told Reuters that Congress could pass a robust privacy law and bolster requirements for companies to be more transparent about their operations and practices.
She recommends a privacy law to limit data collection from TikTok along with regular audits to ensure transparency.
While it is not clear if the bill introduced by Senators will allow the Commerce Department power to ban foreign technology, many TikTok influencers are advocating for preservation without prohibition.
The only way is for the government to hold ginormous companies accountable, whether they are U.S. based or based in China, Jacobson said.
She believes that privacy violations from anyone harms everyone.
Some Democratic lawmakers worry about the political fallout for President Joe Biden of banning something so beloved by many young voters, echoed by a sentiment echoed by some Democratic lawmakers.
Trans Chicana TikTok creative NaomiHearts, known for her self-love content, believes that a ban would hurt her faith in Biden, for whom she voted in 2020.
Naomi, who declined to give her full name, said we put our trust in someone, in my mind there is no good politician. I put him in office because I believed in what he stood for and I think this is going to affect a lot of people's opinions as time goes by. Naomi said she is a bit reluctant to switch over to other platforms, as TikTok has given her opportunities that she hasn't found elsewhere.
TikTok backers believe it provides livelihoods, paths to social change and a sense of community.
She said that as a trans person in this world, they don't care about us, so it's wild to be able to make six figures a year because of TikTok, and brands reaching out to me because of that app.