As TikTok ban looms, other platforms are rushing in to court displaced creators

Barring an intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, a law that would force a divestiture or ban of TikTok will go into effect on January 19. TikTok’s rivals in the social media world seem to feel that the upcoming ban is a fait accompli. Platforms as diverse as Triller and Peacock have announced programs and products that could allow them to bring in displaced creators in the wake of the TikTok ban.

Replacing TikTok is the hot new tech trend

Ever since a U.S. District Court ruled that the proposed divest-or-ban law is constitutional, U.S.-based TikTok creators have started preparing for a future in which the popular video app is unavailable. Brands are also preparing to jump ship if the Supreme Court chooses not to rescue TikTok.

In recent weeks, platforms have followed suit, and Triller’s plan for a TikTok-less U.S. is particularly intriguing. Fresh off its IPO, the headline-grabbing tech company has launched savemytiktoks.com. Powered by Triller’s proprietary technology, the self-explanatory site gives users a way to save their work — and it just so happens that those videos can be seamlessly migrated to Triller.

The potential ramifications of a TikTok ban have affected the discourse at the Consumer Electronics Show as well. As in previous years, the annual Las Vegas tech showcase featured some new products that replicate aspects of TikTok’s powerful feed. NBCUniversal’s announcement of vertical video playlists on Peacock is a good example.

But those products look a bit different this year than they did during previous CES presentations. Instead of trying to copy TikTok, Big Tech firms are angling to replace it.

Large platforms are most likely to benefit from a TikTok ban

So says eMarketer, which published a speculative report on the potential reallocation of marketing dollars that currently go to TikTok. According to eMarketer, approximately 50% of that pie will go to YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. Meta and Google wouldn’t be the only winners. The eMarketer projections show that more than 30% of TikTok spend would end up on non-YouTube connected TV platforms or other channels outside the realm of social media.

It seems clear that, in the event of a TikTok ban, the rich would get richer. That proposed trend provided a partial explanation for Donald Trump‘s unexpected status as a TikTok supporter. The president-elect explained that he doesn’t want to ban the ByteDance-owned app because that would cede power to Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta — a company that previously suspended Trump’s accounts across multiple platforms.

Now that Meta has chosen to align with the incoming regime by stripping its fact-checking services, will Trump start singing a different tune? Maybe he won’t mind after all if Meta sucks up reallocated marketing money.

Could ByteDance replace itself?

What if the successor to TikTok is owned by the same company? These questions have become more relevant as Lemon8, a ByteDance-owned Instagram competitor, gains traction among U.S. users.

This isn’t the first time that Lemon8 has been proposed as a TikTok successor, but there are a few roadblocks that figure to stall the upstart app in the U.S. For starters, it too would be affected by the ban. The federal law can apply to any app with significant ties to a “foreign adversary,” and any properties owned by Beijing-based ByteDance would theoretically fall into that category.

The other issue is more philosophical: Lemon8 isn’t that exciting yet. It cooled off significantly after experiencing its first growth spurt in March 2023, and it only regained widespread public attention because of the looming nature of the U.S. TikTok ban.

Of course, TikTok itself has its own preparations to arrange before January 19. It has announced that it will cease U.S. operations unless the Supreme Court delays the law’s enactment. Given the potential economic impacts of the ban, its fading public support, and Trump’s stated desire to save TikTok, the incoming statute could become sour shortly after going into effect. ByteDance’s best move may be to wait it out, but other platforms clearly have their own ideas.