“Most people nowadays post the same video on multiple platforms, like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts,” says Rusli, who specialises in photography content. “Sometimes it works on one platform, sometimes it works on another. You never really know.”

Currently, one of the main concerns for TikTokers in the US is loss of income. However, Rowi Singh, a 29-year-old beauty and style content creator, says this doesn’t entirely apply down under because the Creator Fund, used to pay content creators, isn’t available for Australian users. Instead, money is made through sponsorship deals with existing brands and businesses, which will likely continue on platforms like Instagram.

“It will have some financial impact, especially for people who have built themselves solely on TikTok. If they haven’t built across platforms, they could find it more difficult.”

Content that transcends platforms should still be able to thrive without TikTok. “It’s just the nature of social media, things move so quickly. If you haven’t built agility into your business and strategy, then you need to rethink. I’m not too frazzled by it.”

Even though some creators have tried to reduce the risk of a potential ban by building audiences on multiple platforms, a TikTok ban is still likely to hit them hard. According to creative agency We are Social’s Digital 2024 report, Australians spent almost 1 ½ hours a day on TikTok last year. This was by far the most time spent on any platform, nearly doubling the time spent on YouTube.

Australian musician Lupa J, otherwise known as Imogen Jones, experienced the benefits of TikTok’s algorithms firsthand. After sharing their acoustic cover of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy on TikTok, their audience grew from 300 followers to 12,000 in just a month.

“I’ve not been able to do that on any other platform in that space of time. People were actually signing up to my mailing list and pre-saving my music. It felt quite real in a way that I hadn’t experienced elsewhere online,” Jones says.

Creative industries, particularly music and comedy, can be challenging to break into due to traditional gatekeepers controlling the spread of success. On TikTok, audiences are broad enough that creators from all walks of life can commit to their niche, Jones says.

Jones has already had a taste of what life could be like without TikTok. In February, all of their music was removed from the app after Universal Music Group pulled its entire music catalogue from the platform, as part of a dispute over royalty payments.

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“It’s a bit of a disaster for me,” they say. “It was because of TikTok that I decided to release my single in the first place. It’s effective at quickly determining who will enjoy your particular sound … It showed me to this generation of queer people who would not have seen my music otherwise.”

While a TikTok ban would leave many micro-communities in limbo, some creators believe local creative industries would flourish without the platform.

Perth-born musician Hauskey describes TikTok as “cocaine for the brain”, saying it has distracted artists.

“I will prance around my house in utter glee the day the app dies,” he says. “The quicker we can all start spending less time making TikToks and more time making music, and improving the numerous aspects of our industry that need attention, the better... Death to TikTok.”

A ban could actually encourage originality and creative exploration, Rowi Singh adds, ridding creative industries of the “homogenised TikTok personality” that some argue has made parts of the music, comedy, and beauty industries predictable and repetitive.

“Everyone acts and talks the same because of TikTok. It’s like, ‘what do you like outside of TikTok? What are your interests? What things do you find funny outside of TikTok?’ We need personality beyond the internet.”

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