JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Supreme Court on Friday seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company.

Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company’s connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech, either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States.

Thousands of First Coast residents use the popular platform, and some local content creators who have built large followings on the site spoke with First Coast News, sharing their thoughts on the possible ban.

One Jacksonville content creator, Helena, runs the TikTok channel HelHathFury, which as of January, 2025, has more than 151,000 followers.

Helena said she used revenue earned from her channel to help pay for extensive medical bills, and she believes the app should remain available to Americans who want to use it.

“TikTok is not just an app where kids do dances – it’s a way for people globally to share information we wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” Helena said. “In 2020, many depended on this app during lockdown and for many it was the only way to feel connected to others.” 

Helena said lawmakers are missing the mark when it comes to banning the platform, and should be focusing on other issues.

“I have yet to see any evidence that demonstrates that TikTok is a larger threat to American people than…a broken medical system with unaffordable healthcare to many; children being murdered in schools…[and] an economic crisis causing citizens to decide whether they want to pay for insulin or rent,” Helena said. “The speed at which lawmakers mobilized to ban TikTok while ignoring problems that impact Americans is appalling. I hope that one day the actual health and well-being of Americans will be prioritized over the perceived threat of an app.”

Ashley Aguilar has made it her full-time job creating content to promote local restaurants on apps like TikTok with the page “sociall.feeds.” First Coast News met her in the Jacksonville pizza joint her family owns, Mama’s Pizza & Grill. She said her family took over the restaurant in February of 2020 and during the pandemic, she and her sister started promoting it on Instagram and TikTok.

“I am very confident to say that the reason why we survived is because of social media,” Aguilar said about the restaurant during the pandemic.

Aguilar worries if TikTok is banned, it could hurt her small business and the ones she creates content for.

“It’s one less platform that I can show these restaurants to in Jacksonville,” Aguilar said. “It also just makes me really sad for businesses in general because it’s such a great tool for marketing whenever the budget isn’t there and whenever you just want an extra boost or if you just wanna start and you don’t know where to start.”

First Coast News also spoke with Jacksonville content creator Evan Werthman, who created “Snaxonville” with his wife, Hannah. 

“We love restaurants in the 904 and we make content that promotes them and helps them grow their businesses,” Werthman said.

Werthman said he doesn’t make money from his TikTok content and that it’s a creative venture, but he doesn’t want to see the app go away.

“I personally think it would be government overreach,” Werthman said. “That being said, if it did happen, I don’t think I would be devastated.”

The Chinese company ByteDance, who owns TikTok, has said it won’t sell the short-form video platform. But some investors have been eyeing it, including Trump’s Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt. On Thursday, McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative said it, along with its unnamed partners, presented a proposal to ByteDance to acquire TikTok’s U.S. assets. The consortium, which includes “Shark Tank” host Kevin O’Leary, did not disclose the financial terms of the offer.

If TikTok isn’t sold to an approved buyer, the federal law would prohibit app stores, such as those operated by Apple and Google, from offering the popular app. It would also bar internet hosting services from hosting TikTok.

TikTok users who already have the app on their phones will continue to have access to it. But new users won’t be able to download the app, and existing ones will no longer be able to receive updates. That will eventually render the app unworkable, the Justice Department has said in court filings.