Over the weekend, the House voted to ban TikTok if it doesn’t divest from Chinese ownership and a Senate vote could come within days.
If the ban becomes law, it could be a threat to one of Hollywood’s most famous buildings, headquarters to some of the biggest influencers in the country.
If you want to make it big as an influencer in Los Angeles, 1600 Vine is the place to be. It is built around making viral videos and that lifeblood is under threat.
High above Hollywood, Jo de la Rosa Grey has danced her way into the hearts of her followers — the former Real Housewives of Orange County star— inside one of the many so-called “wedges” at 1600 Vine — rooms used by social media influencers to make videos for millions of followers.
“On here you got a ton of YouTubers, a ton of TikTokers. For me, it’s inspirational because no matter where you walk in the building, someone is usually shooting a photo shoot or video or something like that,” Jo de la Rosa Grey, a social media influencer, said.
1600 Vine is the LA headquarters for de la Rosa Grey and her husband Taran, who helps brands create their own presence on TikTok. But it’s all being threatened by a proposed TikTok ban that was passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend and now heads to the Senate.
The law would give TikTok’s China-based owner up to a year to sell its interest to an American company otherwise downloads of the app would become illegal.
Both Democrat and Republican leaders say they’re concerned about the Chinese government’s access to user data and potential ability to manipulate content, though the government has yet to provide evidence to back up their concerns.
“It’s huge and it’s exponentially growing,” Taran Grey, a creative director, said. “Don’t think of TikTok like Instagram, think of TikTok like Google. TikTok is a search engine.”
Opponents say a ban would deny free speech to some 170 million TikTok users and cost the economy up to $24 billion.
“If they don’t end up selling and TikTok shuts down it’s going to put so many creators including me out of jobs,” de la Rosa Grey said.
“To me, it would just be a pivot into working primarily with YouTube as opposed to TikTok but I love TikTok so I really hope that TikTok does stick around,” Taran Grey said.
TikTok has hinted it will likely sue if a tik tok ban is signed into law.
The ban is now part of a foreign aid package that may be taken up by the Senate as early as tomorrow.