TikTok’s future is uncertain as its executive order expires September 17, 2025.
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With the September 17 TikTok ban just days away, 170 million U.S. users are wondering whether the app will receive another extension or be permanently banned.
For many creators, TikTok has been a key source of income through brand deals, affiliate marketing, and the Creator Rewards Program. A shutdown could deal a significant blow to the $24 billion dollar creator economy.
How Did This All Start?
In April 2024, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner by January 19, 2025, or face a U.S. ban due to national security concerns.
The deadline, set just before President Trump’s inauguration, led to TikTok briefly shutting down before receiving an extension less than 24 hours later. Since then, Trump has issued several executive orders in January, April, and June to delay the ban while attempting to strike a deal with China to keep TikTok in the U.S.
What Happens Next?
On Sunday, President Trump said in an interview, “We’re negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die or we may, I dunno, it depends up to China…” Less than 24 hours later, however, both Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested a deal with China was in place that could keep TikTok online. In a Monday Truth Social post, Trump also hinted at an agreement involving a “certain” company that, he noted, many young Americans wanted to see saved.
While the details are unlikely to be finalized within 48 hours before the September 17 deadline, another executive order extending the deadline would give the administration more time to complete an American ownership deal.
How Can Content Creators Prepare
While a framework is a promising sign in keeping TikTok available in the U.S., it is not a done deal. Creators should be proactive about protecting their audiences and income streams.
The first step is diversification: building a presence on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or other platforms to avoid overreliance on one app. Creators should also focus on collecting first-party audience data, such as email addresses or SMS sign-ups, to maintain direct connections with their followers.
Repurposing content across multiple platforms, strengthening brand partnerships through multi-channel campaigns, and testing new revenue streams, such as affiliate links or digital products, can also help cushion the impact of a potential ban.
Finally, creators should stay up-to-date on policy updates to ensure they are ready to pivot quickly if the app disappears overnight.
