Business

TikTok creators, business owners protest planned ban of app, say it threatens lives, livelihoods

Published

8 months ago

March 14, 2024

TikTok creators, business owners protest planned ban of app, say it threatens lives, livelihoods

Small business owners, community advocates and educators have spoken against the US House’s overwhelming approval of a proposal to ban a popular app, TikTok.

The Washington Post reports that many content creators among others protested outside the Capitol on Wednesday March 13 after the House approved the proposal.

Contributing about $14.7 billion in revenue for small-business owners last year and $24.2 billion to US Gross Domestic Product, educators, activists, small business owners and young people who use TikTok argue that the app plays an increasingly crucial role in the national economy and American public life.

“Banning TikTok would shut down a lot of small businesses, including mine,” said Brandon Hurst, 30, a Los Angeles plant shop owner who credits the app with boosting lackluster sales. “These representatives and senators don’t understand that what they’re doing won’t just harm people they call ‘content creators.’ It would hurt small businesses.”

Dozens of TikTok supporters gathered outside the Capitol on Wednesday to oppose the measure, which passed the House with overwhelming support but faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Among them was Gigi Gonzalez, a financial educator from Chicago who said a TikTok ban would destroy her financially.

“It would get rid of my biggest source of revenue,” said Gonzalez, 34, who said she earns her living largely through brand deals on TikTok, speaking gigs she secures through TikTok and digital courses that she sells through TikTok. Before TikTok, Gonzalez said she mostly tried to reach people through webinars, which drew sparse attendance. Now, she said, she reaches millions, many of whom buy her courses and books.

“TikTok provides more benefit than harm than any other social media platform,” added Heather DiRocco, an artist and content creator from Montana who makes money by touting products in her videos and through the platform’s creativity program beta, which pays creators based on the number of views they amass on videos over a minute in length.

DiRocco is one of several plaintiffs seeking to overturn Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban on TikTok, which was set to take effect in January but was blocked by a federal judge.

“I could not replicate the money that I make on TikTok through any other platform,” DiRocco said. If a national ban passes Congress and President Biden follows through on his pledge to sign it, she said, “I will lose my biggest platform as a content creator, stripped from me with no recompense or compensation.”

Since rebranding in 2018 under the name TikTok, the app has risen to become one of the most popular social media platforms, with 170 million monthly users in the United States alone.

Hundreds of thousands of content creators make a living on the app, which has skyrocketed artists and influencers such as Lil Nas X, Doja Cat and Charli D’Amelio to overnight fame.

More than seven million American businesses market or sell their products through TikTok, according to the company.

According to a study issued Wednesday by Oxford Economics, a financial consultancy, TikTok drove $14.7 billion in revenue for small-business owners last year and contributed $24.2 billion to US Gross Domestic Product.

The study also found that TikTok supports at least 224,000 American jobs, with the greatest economic impact in California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois.

In addition to its economic impact, TikTok has become a huge educational hub.

Through its #LearnOnTikTok initiative, the company has partnered with more than 800 public figures, publishers, educational institutions and subject matter experts to bring educational material to the app.

TikTok also gives grants to educators and nonprofits that produce educational content.

“Both sides of the aisle know that TikTok is a crucial tool that many — particularly young people — use for education, advocacy and organizing,” said Annie Wu Henry, a digital strategist and content creator.

“It’s incredibly clear, too, that many of these politicians don’t fully understand what the app is that they are trying to ban or even why they are trying to ban it.”

Even as TikTok has become increasingly important economically, it has drawn fire from policymakers in both parties, who have expressed concern about the content being served to users of the app and about its parent company’s ties to China.

On Wednesday, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) posted to X that “voting against this bill is a vote for the Chinese Communist Party.”

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew responded to the House vote in a video, calling the result “disappointing” and encouraging the app’s users to speak out against the legislation.

“Over the last few years, we have invested to keep your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation,” he said.

“We have committed that we will continue to do so. This legislation, if signed into law, will lead to a ban of TikTok in the United States. … It will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses.”

Proponents of the House measure claim the bill is not intended to ban the app, though experts say it would function as a ban.

The measure would require TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, to be sold to a US-based company within 180 days, which many say is unfeasible.

After that period web-hosting services would be prohibited from providing TikTok to the public.

Opponents of the measure are skeptical.

“It’s unrealistic that TikTok’s parent company would be able to sell the app within the US within six months, which is the time period the government mandates under this bill,” said Nora Benavidez, a civil rights and free-speech attorney and senior counsel at Free Press, a nonpartisan organization focused on protecting civil liberties.

“Faced with that likely scenario, the penalties they’d face in the case of such an event would result in TikTok being banned.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who voted against the measure, told a rally of opponents on Tuesday that “any ban on TikTok is not just banning the freedom of expression — you’re literally causing huge harm to our national economy.”

“Small-business owners across the country use TikTok to move our economy forward. Some of these creators and these business owners solely depend on TikTok for their revenue and their job,” Garcia said.

“To rush a process forward that could ban their form of work — particularly young people in this country — is misguided.”

Garcia added that the app is an important connection point for various social groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.

Tiffany Yu, 35, a disability activist in Los Angeles, said banning the app would be especially harmful to disabled people, many of whom have found it to be a lifeline during the isolation of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which is still keeping public spaces off limits to vulnerable people.

“TikTok has been able to help us find each other. Losing TikTok would remove us from that social fabric,” Yu said, adding that TikTok has become an economic lifeline for a group whose “unemployment rates are twice that of our non-disabled peers.”

The House bill would strip “millions of Americans of their rights of freedom of speech, and it’s really not okay,” said Carly Goddard, a content creator who also is a plaintiff in the case against the Montana TikTok ban.

“On TikTok, you see … what is going on in our world,” Goddard said. And “there is more to worry about in our world than banning an app.”

Related Topics:ban Featured TikTok US House

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Nigeria to begin local manufacturing of vehicle spare parts – NADDC

Published

17 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Trends Admin

NADDC Director General, Joseph Osanipin

Nigeria to begin local manufacturing of vehicle spare parts – NADDC

The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) announced it has established the necessary structures and frameworks to begin local production of vehicle spare parts.

This initiative is aimed at reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imports, which currently cost the country $1 billion annually.

The NADDC Director General, Joseph Osanipin, disclosed this during the conclusion of a two-week automotive engineering and software design training held in Abuja organised in partnership with Midas IT Co. of South Korea, focusing on Midas NFX software, a platform for advanced design and analysis.

Speaking on behalf of the DG, the Director of Research Design and Development, Fidelis Achiv, highlighted the council is committed to transforming Nigeria’s automotive industry by increasing the percentage of locally manufactured components in vehicle assembly.

“We are working to achieve a level whereby we can go back to assembling vehicles that have up to 40% locally manufactured components. We have vehicle assemblies in Nigeria but the assembling that is going on is not adding much value to the economy.

“Vehicles that have been assembled come in completely built, and they just remove the tyres, remove the exhaust system, remove the engine, ship them, and come and assemble them here. But we want to transform from that to a level where these vehicles come in unpainted, the welding is done here, some components parts are produced here and the assembly will add more value, and employ more people. We have over 11 million vehicles on our Nigerian roads.

Fostering innovation

Abdul-Lawal Zubair, Managing Director of FAZSAL Nigeria Limited, encouraged participants to apply their newly acquired skills practically and creatively to address challenges in the automotive industry

“You have not just seen the theory of design but with practicality. Solve the issues for us. There is a reason among all the software for this agency to choose Midas NFX.

“Let them be proud of you. They can call you for advanced training, possibly in South Korea. Don’t just know the software and keep it. Be innovative and give solutions,” he said

One of the participants, Lukman, expressed gratitude for the opportunity and the exposure to the advanced Midas NFX software.

“This training has widened my level of thinking and reasoning. The software is outstanding for modelling and analysis. We are now more equipped to be creative and contribute to producing what we consume. This software offers a platform for optimizing design and introducing innovative ideas into the market,” he stated.

Nigeria to begin local manufacturing of vehicle spare parts – NADDC

Business

We’re not involved in N40m HxAfrica mortgage scheme – FMBN

Published

1 day ago

November 17, 2024

Trends Admin

We’re not involved in N40m HxAfrica mortgage scheme – FMBN

By Dada Jackson

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has distance itself from claims linking it to a N40 million mortgage pre-financing scheme promoted by Housing Exchange Africa (HXAfrica).

In an official disclaimer issued by Virginia Jang, FMBN’s Group Head of Corporate Communications, it clarified that the bank has no formal partnership or approval arrangement with HXAfrica concerning the alleged scheme.

“The management of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria wishes to disclaim reports in the media by HXAfrica (Housing Exchange Africa) on a purported N40 million mortgage pre-financing scheme, which referred to FMBN as a partner,” Jang stated

She further explained that while HXAfrica had applied for engagement with the bank, no approvals had been granted, and no formal agreements had been finalized.

Jang emphasized that FMBN remains committed to advancing housing initiatives, including the forthcoming Diaspora Mortgage Scheme, which is being developed in collaboration with the National Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM)

“While the FMBN and NIDCOM remain committed to the roll-out of the Diaspora Mortgage Scheme after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, we will endeavour to provide official information and updates on our respective websites and social media handles to prevent the public from being misled,” she added.

The statement also revealed that NIDCOM had issued a similar disclaimer regarding the HXAfrica scheme, urging the public to be cautious of unverified claims.

FMBN assured citizens that details of the official Diaspora Mortgage Scheme would be communicated through authorized channels once regulatory approvals are secured.

The bank reiterated its commitment to delivering credible housing solutions while encouraging the public to rely only on updates from its verified platforms.

Auto

Soludo: Kojo assembly plant will make Anambra auto manufacturing hub

Published

2 days ago

November 16, 2024

Trends Admin

Soludo: Kojo assembly plant will make Anambra auto manufacturing hub

Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has expressed optimism that the new Kojo automotive assembly plant at Umunya along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway will not only boost the economy of the state but also reposition it as an automotive manufacturing hub.

The assembly plant nearing completion is expected to roll out its first set of vehicles under the Soludo administration soon.

The governor spoke at the just concluded Anambra State Investment Summit (ANINVEST 2.0) with Kojo Motors as one of the official partners and sponsors.

This year’s ANINVEST held under the theme “Changing Gears: Accelerating Anambra’s Economic Transformation”

was organised by the state government as a pivotal event in advancing the collective vision for rapid development of the state’s economy.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Managing Director of OMAA, Chinedu Oguegbu, reiterated the plan of the company to invite Governor Soludo to commission the plant and drive the first locally assembled vehicle out of the Kojo Assembly Plant by the first quarter of 2025.

He said, “His Excellency is very passionate about the Kojo Motors auto assembly plant. He is very eager to see its completion and commencement of assembly of vehicles come to reality.

“I can assure him and the state government that we are doing everything possible to ensure we meet with the governor’s wishes and aspirations.”

The event brought together stakeholders from the various sectors of the local and global economy including industry leaders, development partners, financial institutions and other relevant participants, all united in a commitment to accelerating the economic transformation of Anambra State.

Anambra, according to the state governor, is fast becoming a renewed investors’ destination for different types of money bags rushing to the state to capitalise on the pledged ease of doing business to set up businesses.

“This time around, one of such massive investments is being undertaken by John Ikenna Oguegbu, an indigene of the state and chairman, founder and CEO, Kojo Motors Limited,” Chinedu Oguegbu said.

Last year September, Governor Soludo performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kojo Motors auto assembly plant for the local assembly of the OMAA range of gas-powered mini passenger and commercial buses as well as Chinese range of Yutong passenger and commercial buses.

While congratulating John Ikenna Oguegbu, chairman and chief executive of Kojo Motors Limited for bringing his wealth to his home state to invest. Governor Soludo also commended the Yutong buses manufacturers from China for the smart move of coming to Anambra State to set up the auto assembly plant in collaboration with the local franchisee.

The governor stated that the decision to allow prospective investors to come and invest in the state was not out of philanthropy or charity, but rather a business decision model that would take Anambra State to the world and bring the outside world to the state.

Governor Soludo pledged the state government’s commitment and patronage of the vehicles rolling out of the Yutong Assembly plant.

He declared that the state government under his administration was on course for massive industrial development, employment generation and prosperity for all its citizens.