EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The possible ban of TikTok in the United States could have major implications beyond simply the loss of a popular social media platform, according to an El Paso business owner.
Antonio Esparza runs a TikTok store called “Sabores de México” and has been using the app to sell Mexican candy and other items to customers across the country and internationally.
“So I started selling on Amazon before I started selling on TikTok,” Esparza said. “I’ve been selling on Amazon for about three years, but I started selling on TikTok about a year ago, just over a year. I started in November 2023. I joined the TikTok store because I was unemployed at the time and alone I was looking for additional income. I joined because I thought, ‘Why not? You know, I have nothing to lose.’ And within the first month of joining TikTok, I went viral and sales skyrocketed. “.
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Esparza has since taken steps to mitigate the potential impact of a TikTok ban by launching a website and opening a brick-and-mortar store in El Paso.
However, he expressed concern about the broader economic effects of such a ban.
“Yes, not only is it affecting me as a small business owner who is in the TikTok store, but there are other businesses here locally like Mexican Candy Lady, Nibble Munchies Market which is in Las Cruces, and there is another border town , I think that”. We’re in the Rio Grande Valley, Chilito Loco,” Esparza said. “And there are also other influencers and creators who are on TikTok who blew up on TikTok and who are here locally, and their livelihood depends on this. So it’s not just entertainment, but it’s also people’s livelihood that they use to pay, you know, their groceries or rent, their utilities, all of that.”
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TikTok’s future remains uncertain as the Supreme Court deliberates on whether to uphold the ban.
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