New York small businesses concerned over possible TikTok ban [Video]

A TikTok video put Abbey Kowalec and her business on the map.

“I find that when someone reaches out to me, the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, I found you on TikTok,’” Kowalec said. “I would say 70 to 80% of my customer base comes from TikTok.”

Kowalec is a Manhattan-based cookie artist. She said her first post garnered 3.1 million views for a business she started only a year ago. But a new bill passed in Washington could ban the platform she’s come to rely on.

To keep TikTok running in the U.S., the social media app’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, must sell its stake.

“It is a little scary knowing that this is something that could be banned, and something that could really affect my business,” Kowalec said.

In New York State alone, the platform has contributed $1.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product through small-to-medium-sized …