DALLAS — Dwayne Prater, a 23-year-old TikTok influencer from Forney, Texas, has built a following of nearly 150,000 followers and amassed more than four million likes with his grocery store trips, dances, and reflections on life.
His online presence, which he describes as a "digital life diary," has earned him brand partnerships with cosmetic and skincare companies, earning enough money to move out on his own.
"It definitely did allow for me to kind of advance in my life," Prater said.
However, Prater's success, and that of an estimated 170 million Americans, faces an uncertain future as TikTok fights a potential ban in the U.S. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the app on Friday, agreeing that the potential for data dissemination to the Chinese government and the ability to spread disinformation "constitutes an independently compelling national security interest."
"I am confident that TikTok and its parent company Byte Dance will seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court," said Dallas appeals attorney Chad Ruback who is not involved in the case. "What the Supreme Court will do though, is anybody's guess."
In a statement to ABC News on Friday, TikTok urged the Supreme Court to overrule the decision.
"The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people," TikTok said.
"The TikTok ban, unless stopped, will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025," the company added with emphasis on the deadline imposed by the new law.
"We have an incoming president who has recently expressed a lot of support for TikTok," added Ruback. "Who knows what's gonna happen."
As for influencers like Dwayne, he says he is already feeling the impact of a potential ban. Some of his product endorsements have dried up, impacting his cash flow and forcing him to move back home to Forney with his parents.
"I would be very disappointed just to see it kind of slip through," he said of a potential TikTok ban.