TikTok ban: What happens next, how local business owners feel

 

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- With a potential TikTok ban on the horizon, many business owners who benefit from the app hope it is not permanently deleted from people's smart devices.

This week, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on legislation outlining changes the government wants to see on the app. Some lawmakers are concerned about its safety because a foreign company owns it.

But some people, like Maricela Cuevas, think banning TikTok is bad for business. Cuevas opened Paw Perfecta on 6123 West Mitchell Street in West Allis a year and a half ago, hoping to reach more Latino dog owners.

"There's not a lot of bilingual pet groomers in the area," Cuevas explained. "I'm the only groomer here, so I basically do everything on the dog."

Since opening, Cuevas and her husband, Tonny Romero, have worked to grow the brand.

"Right now, Paw Perfecta has a 2,000-person waitlist," Romero said.

Their success is no accident as they have over 316,000 followers on TikTok, just one of the social media platforms they use as a marketing tool at no cost.

"We can make a video, post it, and potentially go viral," Romero explained.

TikTok has helped many reach unprecedented heights of success since it launched.

"It really is, I think, useful for business owners," UW-Milwaukee Assistant Professor of Communications Michael Mirer said. "It's sort of optimized for virality, which is one of the things that people like, because messages can travel great distances."

But TikTok could soon be out of time, as a bill giving it nine months to be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or risk its U.S. operations being shut down, is headed to the U.S. Senate.

"I think there is a lot of concern about what Chinese companies are doing with data," Mirer explained. "I think some people have been concerned that they could alter the algorithm to sort of change the way political discussion occurs in the United States."

The company has said it will take legal action if the bill passes.

"I think TikTok, when it goes to court, is going to argue that shutting down this platform is going to deny a lot of people their free speech rights," Mirer explained.

As for Paw Perfecta, they would lose more than just exposure to potential clients. The pet salon is preparing to launch a line of dog treats that they plan to sell mainly on TikTok Shop, so they hope the U.S. government and the company can strike an agreement.

"Not just me, but so many people around the world, [TikTok] could be their only source of income," Cuevas said.

For more information on Paw Perfecta, visit their website.