How a TikTok ban could impact local Valley small businesses

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Known as Mikey the Foodie Guy on TikTok. Mikey has a passion for food. he shares that love with his followers on TikTok.

Mikey's page shows more than 74,000 followers and over 1.2 Million likes. Many of his videos get more than 10,000 views.

"I use my platform to support family-owned restaurants," said Mikey. "I've done a lot videos where the restaurant was about to close, and now it has two or three locations."

Willy's Philly's is one of those businesses that gained a lot of attention, thanks to Mikey sharing a food review."We started noticing our business going up. It helped us," said Wilson Tadros, the owner of Willy's Philly's, "For a small business owner, it is a free message to connect with your customers."

Owner Wilson Tadros said customers as far as LA have stopped by his shop.

On Wednesday, House leaders passed a bipartisan bill to force TikTok's parent company to sell or face a ban. Lisa Yeo, an assistant tech professor at UC Merced, said there would be an economic impact for content creators and businesses that rely on the platform.

RELATED: House passes bill that could ban TikTok despite resistance from Donald Trump

It's something that both Tadros and Mickey agree with.

"A lot of people are trying to grow, a lot of people are just vendors," said Tadros. "A lot of people that are just starting up, there's no funds. The way things are going with inflation and cost of goods, this right here is basically free."

"Without TikTok, without that kind of platform, honestly it would really be a big hit to small businesses," said Mikey.

Yeo also adds while there is a free speech concern, there is still the issue of privacy.

"I see this as almost like a band-aid on the data privacy issue," said Yeo, "because there is nothing that stops or addresses the underlying concern that our data is always being collected and monitored."

TikTok took to X and said seven million small businesses would be affected by this ban. The social media platform said it's hoping that the Senate will listen to their constituents -- and realize the impact it could have on the economy.

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