The Washington Post, June 17, 2024, TikTok Lifted This Family Out Of Public Housing. See Their Life Before And After
Three years ago, Fanstasia Linda McLean, 30, was making about $175 per client braiding hair in her public housing apartment in Brooklyn. Today, she makes $245 working from a salon space in Nashville, and people drive for three hours or more to get her famous box braids.
One reason for her success? Her TikTok account with tens of thousands of viewers. But this could all change if the law Congress passed in April ultimately leads to a TikTok ban across the United States. The law, which reflects growing national security concerns from legislators about the app’s Chinese ownership, requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app within about a year or get banned.
The looming ban threatens to disrupt the millions of businessesTikTok says use its platform. Thisincludes small businesses like McLean’s that use the short-form video platform to market their shops, sell products and build customer bases.TikTok, which has denied it poses a national security threat, is suing to stop the potential ban, arguing it is “obviously unconstitutional.”
