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ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump for $15 million.
The money will go toward Trump’s future presidential library, according to court documents.
Anchor George Stephanopoulos in March inaccurately said that Trump had been found « liable for rape. »
ABC News will pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s future presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the president-elect, according to newly-filed court documents.
Trump filed the lawsuit over comments made by star anchor George Stephanopoulos in March on the Sunday program « This Week, » when the journalist said that Trump had been found « liable for rape » in a suit brought by the columnist E. Jean Carroll.
While the Manhattan jury found Trump liable for the sexual abuse of Carroll, he was not found « liable for rape, » as Stephanopoulos said on the program during an interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
« Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury, » Stephanopoulos said at the time. « It’s been affirmed by a judge. »
According to the settlement agreement, ABC News will place the $15 million in escrow, which will go toward Trump’s presidential library and foundation. The network also agreed to pay $1 million in attorneys’ fees, and it will place an editors’ note at the bottom of a March article.
The note reads: « ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024. »
« We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing, » ABC News said in a statement.
Business Insider reached out to a spokesperson for Trump for comment.
Drone sightings have been reported up and down the eastern US in recent weeks.
Officials say they’re investigating the mysterious aircraft — many of which have actually been crewed aircraft.
But federal agencies stress that they need more authority to deal with the drone threat.
Federal agencies are arguing they need more authority so they can better deal with drones amid the surge in unexplained drone sightings that have caused confusion throughout the eastern US in recent weeks.
Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials said on Saturday that they are limited right now in how they can respond to the reported drone sightings that have stretched from Maryland to Massachusetts since mid-November.
Much of the mystery has centered on New Jersey, where drones have been reported around military facilities and critical infrastructure sites. The Biden administration has stressed that these drones are not the work of a foreign adversary and do not appear to be a public safety threat. A White House spokesperson said many of the suspected drones are believed to be crewed aircraft that are operating lawfully.
« While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey right now, the reported sightings there do highlight a gap in our current authorities, » a DHS official said during a weekend background call with reporters.
The official said that they urged Congress « to pass our important counter-UAS legislation that will extend and expand our existing counter-drone authorities. »
That legislation would leave DHS « better equipped to identify and mitigate any potential threats at airports or other critical infrastructure » but also provide state and local authorities with » the tools that they need to respond to such threats, » the official added.
An FBI official agreed with that argument and said that any investigation into the drones is « limited in scope. » They said there is pending legislation that, if lawmakers passed it, would expand the agency’s legal authority regarding counter-drone tools and technologies.
The official said that the legislation would « help us quickly identify or quickly mitigate some of the threats. »
The FBI headquarters is photographed on October 8.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
A bipartisan bill, the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, would expand federal agencies’ oversight of drones.
Federal law enforcement officials told House lawmakers at a hearing this week that the current legal authorities they are working with aren’t enough to deal with the threat that drones pose.
These restrictions are felt by the military as well, as US Northern Command said earlier that it was aware of reports of unauthorized drone flights near two military installations in New Jersey: the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.
A Department of Defense official said the military is limited in what it can do off-base and needs to coordinate with local and federal law enforcement to take any action.
« We’re also significantly restricted — and rightfully so, in fact, prohibited — from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance here in the homeland, » the official said during the call with reporters on Saturday.
« We don’t have the same capabilities and the same methods that we would employ in other locations outside of the homeland to determine points of origin and identify very quickly where these operators are located and then respond to that location, » the official added. « We just can’t do that here in the homeland. »
While the ongoing East Coast « mystery drone » saga has confused civilians and officials alike, federal agencies say many of the reported sightings are just crewed aircraft that are being misidentified as drones. However, the FBI has acknowledged that while only a small percentage of the tips it received ended up warranting further investigation, there is definitely some unexplained drone activity above New Jersey.
« We’re doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, » the FBI official said. « But I think there has been a slight overreaction. »
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta urged California to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit company.
In doing so, Zuckerberg sided with his occasional nemesis, Elon Musk, who also wants to stop OpenAI.
It seems the two tech billionaires have finally found some common ground.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk have long-standing beef about everything from artificial intelligence to how they run their respective social media platforms.
While that feud has lasted for the better part of a decade — and has even threatened to get physical — the two tech billionaires now agree on at least one thing: their competitor, OpenAI, should remain a nonprofit.
Zuckerberg’s Meta asked the California attorney general on Friday to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company. Meta accused Sam Altman’s company of « taking advantage » of its status as a nonprofit to raise billions.
« OpenAI wants to change its status while retaining all of the benefits that enabled it to reach the point it has today. That is wrong. OpenAI should not be allowed to flout the law by taking and reappropriating assets it built as a charity and using them for potentially enormous private gains, » Meta said in the letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
OpenAI is one of Meta’s biggest competitors in the AI tech race.
« Failing to hold OpenAI accountable for its choice to form as a nonprofit could lead to a proliferation of similar startup ventures that are notionally charitable until they are potentially profitable, » Meta wrote in the letter.
Musk, one of 11 OpenAI cofounders who split from the company early on, launched a second bid in November to stop OpenAI from making the transition, asking a court for an injunction against the company.
The injunction request also argues that OpenAI and Microsoft, the largest corporate investor in the AI startup, have worked together to build a « for-profit monopoly, » engaging in anti-competitive behavior that also targets xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence venture.
OpenAI has fought back. On Friday, it published a blog post titled « Elon Musk wanted an OpenAI for-profit. » The post includes a series of emails and messages between Musk and other cofounders, including Altman, going back as far as November 2015, a month before the company was founded.
In one of those emails, Musk responded to Altman’s proposal to start a Delaware-based nonprofit: « Also, the structure doesn’t seem optimal, » Musk wrote.
Musk left the organization in 2018 in part because he believed OpenAI’s « probability of success was 0, » according to an OpenAI blog post from March. Musk has accused OpenAI of straying from its original mission to develop an artificial general intelligence that is safe and benefits humanity.
Almost a decade after its founding as a nonprofit, OpenAI is now eyeing the switch to a for-profit venture to generate more investor capital. In October, the company announced a $6.6 billion funding round, raising OpenAI’s valuation to $157 billion. That investment, however, comes with a stipulation that OpenAI become a for-profit within two years.
Dozens of unidentified aircraft have been spotted over cities in the eastern United States.
Some of the suspected drones have been seen flying over military bases and airports.
The FBI says it is still investigating but doesn’t believe they pose a threat.
Dozens of unidentified aircraft, at least some ofwhich appear to be drones, have been spotted flying at night over New Jersey and other nearby states since mid-November, sparking concern from local officials and speculation among citizens.
Here’s everything we know about the « mystery drones. »
Where have residents reported unidentified aircraft?
Residents and officials have reported spotting unidentified aircraft,believed to be drones, flying above New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania in recent weeks. The first sightings, according to the FBI, were on November 18.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters on Monday that some of the suspected drones are « very sophisticated » and can « go dark » the « minute you get eyes on them. » Others have described the aircraft as bigger than normal hobby drones and able to avoid detection.
« This is something we’re taking deadly seriously and we’ve gotten good cooperation out of the feds, but we need more, » Murphy told reporters.
Drones have been spotted near military bases in New Jersey and an airport that serves both the public and the military in New York.
There have also been reports of suspected drones following a US Coast Guard vessel, as well as local police statements on the presence of unidentified aircraft near critical infrastructure.
A drone is seen over Ridge, New York, on Thursday evening, on Dec. 12, 2024.
Newsday LLC/Newsday via Getty Images
US Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing the protection of the US homeland, said it was « aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey, » including around the Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The latest sightings were in Connecticut, according to a statement on Friday from StateSen. Tony Hwang.
What officials are saying about these mystery drones?
President-elect Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the drones « can’t be done without our government’s knowledge » and suggested they be shot down. Other officials have expressed concern about shooting them down due to the threat to local populations of falling debris. Neither kinetic nor electronic warfare methods are particularly ideal near civilian areas.
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Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said on Fox News on Wednesday that the drones came from an Iranian « mothership » off the East Coast of the United States, citing « very high sources. »
Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh rejected that assertion in a press conference later that day, saying that « there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States. »
He doubled down on Thursday, saying the government isn’t telling the truth. The congressman said it could be another ship belonging to another foe. A Department of Homeland Security official said Saturday that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement in sending drones ashore from vessels in the area.
John Kirby, a White House National Security Council spokesperson, said the United States had « no evidence » that the reported drone sightings are a public safety threat. He added that the government believes some of the suspected drones were actually crewed aircraft operating lawfully.
Kirby also said that the federal government had not been able to confirm any of the sightings.
Speaking to reporters Saturday, an FBI official said that the bureau had received 5,000 tips through a national tip line, but of those reports, fewer than 100 were deemed worthy of more investigation.
« We’re doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, » the FBI official said. « But I think there has been a slight overreaction. »
Local officials, meanwhile, are calling for more information.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Saturday that runways at Stewart International Airport in Orange Countywere shut down for an hour due to unidentified drone activity. Hochul called on Congress to strengthen the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of drones and provide counter-unmanned aircraft equipment to local law enforcement.
« This has gone too far, » the governor said.
Mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey also sent a letter to Gov. Murphy on Monday demanding more transparency.
« Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights, » the letter says.
The FBI said that it’s leading the investigation. Local law enforcement agencies are also investigating.
Previous unidentified flying objects and drone sightings
There have been a number of sightings of suspected drones and other unusual flying objects over military installations in recent years.
In February 2023, for example, the United States shot down three unidentified objects flying over American airspace over the course of three days. The incidents followed the US takedown of a spy balloon off the coast of North Carolina the government said came from China.
As for drone activity, The Wall Street Journal reported in October that fleets of drones had been spotted over a military base in Virginia and the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site the year prior. RetiredUS Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, until March of this year the head of Air Combat Command, said that he learned about the sightings in December 2023, when officials at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia reported seeing dozens of drones flying over the base at night. It’s unclear who was behind those incidents.
While the federal government says that the latest sightings are not the work of adversaries or a public security threat, multiple recent incidents near bases have raised national security concerns.
For instance, federal authorities on Monday charged a Chinese citizen residing in California, Yinpiao Zhou, with failure to register a non-transportation aircraft and violation of national defense airspace. The Justice Department accused Zhou of using a drone to photograph Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on November 30.
Police arrested Zhou at the San Francisco International Airport before he boarded a China-bound flight.
Another man, Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national, was sentenced to six months in federal prison in October for photographing classified US Navy ships with a drone in Virginia. Fengyun, a student at the University of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of aircraft for the unlawful photographing of a designated installation.
The FBI official who spoke to reporters on Saturday said about the most recent sightings: « We are doing everything we can, alongside our partners, to understand what is happening and whether or not there is more nefarious activity that we need to explore. »
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Siemiatkowski said he’s « of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we as humans do. »
« It’s just a question of how we apply it and use it, » he said.
Klarna is a payment service that offers consumers « buy now, pay later » options. According to its website, the company is connected with more than 575,000 retailers.
The increased attention around AI has raised concerns about how it will affect careers and the workplace. A 2023 report by McKinsey & Company estimated that 12 million American workers will have to change occupations by 2030 as AI technology develops.
During the interview, Siemiatkowski said Klarna stopped hiring last year.
« I think what we’ve done internally hasn’t been reported as widely. We stopped hiring about a year ago, so we were 4,500 and now we’re 3,500, » Siemiatkowski said. « We have a natural attrition like every tech company. People stay about five years, so 20% leave every year. By not hiring, we’re simply shrinking, right? »
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski stopped hiring a year ago.Nikos Pekiaridis/Getty Images
Siemiatkowski said his company has told employees that « what’s going to happen is the total salary cost of Klarna is going to shrink, but part of the gain of that is going to be seen in your paycheck. »
Although Klarna’s website is advertising open positions at the time of writing, a spokesperson told Business Insider the company is not « actively recruiting » to expand its workforce. Rather, Klarna is backfilling « some essential roles, » primarily in engineering.
« I’ve done this thing of moving a lot from Brooklyn to Manhattan, » Cobo, a 32-year-old serial tech entrepreneur and the founder of social media platform Hypelist, told Business Insider. « Tribeca was a neighborhood I had never tried. »
Eventually, he came across a listing for a three-bedroom apartment in The Fairchild, a seven-storey converted warehouse built in the 1880s.
« It was very, very dated. Everything was super white, dark floors, glossy white kitchen cabinets, » Cobo said. « It just wasn’t me at all. It didn’t have the level of warmth I wanted. It didn’t have any personality. »
But Cobo isn’t one to shy away from a project — so he took a leap and bought the 2,000-square-foot apartment for $4.6 million.
Both of us had always daydreamed about a base in Europe. Barry, raised in England, has a great fondness for the continent. I, because my family lived in Europe during some of my childhood, had always wanted to live there as an adult.
Not long after we sold our home in Palo Alto, Dutch friends whom we’d met on our sabbatical invited us to house-sit while they went on vacation during the month of May. We were elated — this would give us the opportunity to check out Amsterdam as an international base. And springtime is the perfect season, right? But that May turned out to be piercingly cold and wet — much less forgiving than January in California. The first several days we huddled together on our friends’ sofa, wrapped in blankets and drinking tea.
A confident lifelong cyclist, I had pictured myself serenely biking along the city’s storied canals. It didn’t turn out how I had envisioned. I was intimidated by the way the Dutch rode alarmingly fast and stopped for no one. One day, I watched a woman in a business suit speeding down the bike lane, balancing two small kids and a grocery bag, while chatting away blithely on her cell.
It also wasn’t easy to make connections. We found the Dutch not that different from Americans in some ways — busy, goal-oriented, direct, and focused. And they didn’t seem very easy to get to know. I thought it might be because we were American until I met a Danish woman who’d had the same experience. Pieter, our Dutch friend, explained that most people in the Netherlands stay within the same circle of friends from childhood.
House-sitting in Guanajuato changed everything
Of course, we already knew about Guanajuato but had never considered it an international base because we were in thrall to the fantasy of a home in Europe. But in 2004, we were invited to house-sit, our first visit in three years, and we were newly entranced by the city’s beauty and charm.
During our stay, we met several resident foreigners who greeted us with their stories of buying and remodeling homes.
Suddenly, it made sense. Guanajuato was not only nearer to California, it was also closer to many of our family members — and considerably less expensive than a home in much of Europe. We both spoke manageable Spanish. As for the weather, it was exactly what we wanted.
In 2005, we bought an old adobe house on a pedestrianized street, and we’ve lived there part of the year ever since.
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We split our time between Mexico and California
While less vibrant than colorful Guanajuato, Eureka in California also has unique charms, and we appreciate the contrast between the two towns — Spanish vs. English; 7,000′ high mesa vs. green, moist sea level; owning vs. renting.
In Eureka, we live 10 minutes from the ocean and a block from Humboldt Bay, where we each paddle, Barry in his kayak and I on my paddleboard. In our upgraded EuroVan — which Barry dubs our third home — we explore the natural beauty of Northern California and southern Oregon, where we still discover new areas to visit.
The author and her husband split their time between California and Mexico.
Courtesy of the author
In Eureka, I ride my bike on various dedicated trails around town; in Guanajuato, we shut our front door and, within 10 minutes, are hiking in the hills above town.
We’re glad now that Amsterdam was not a fit for us. Though we never dreamt we’d own a home in Mexico, it’s been the best surprise of our retirement years.
Both destinations offer festive activities at different price points.
Right now, Universal seems to offer the best overall value.
Since moving to Florida with my family eight years ago, we’ve spent every holiday season visiting Disney World and Universal Orlando.
Both offer theme parks, resorts, and entertainment districts filled with holiday activities and events. There’s truly something for every budget, whether you want to walk around Disney Springs’ Christmas trees for free or purchase a VIP holiday tour at Universal.
This year, I spent nights at the resorts’ movie-themed parks, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios Florida, to compare their holiday offerings.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season seven, episode 11 of the Starz drama « Outlander. »
Actor David Berry spoke to BI about shooting an intimate scene with Caitríona Balfe.
The actor said he would always wonder if they could have done it differently.
Season seven, episode 11 of « Outlander » saw the Starz drama take on one of the most-anticipated — and controversial — storylines from the book series written by Diana Gabaldon.
After learning in the previous episode that the ship Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was traveling on had sunk, Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and Lord John Grey (David Berry) were left grief-stricken.
When audiences saw them next, the pair hastily married to stop the English army from arresting Claire for espionage.
While their marriage was meant to be entirely platonic — given John’s sexuality and Claire’s unending love for Jamie — the two unexpectedly ended up consummating their marriage while in a haze of despair, drunkenness, and delirium while both imagining that the other is their beloved Jamie.
Speaking to Business Insider, Berry reflected on the experience of shooting his first sex scene for « Outlander » and the challenges that came with it.
« This was a very big moment for me as an actor because it’s the first time that I was called upon to do sort of an ‘Outlander’ intimate scene, » Berry said, adding that it « was a moment I was afraid of but also looking forward to. »
Berry’s trepidation at taking on the scene is understandable. While not the most shocking scene in « Outlander » — the show has long been serving up challenging scenes — it is one particularly unpopular with fans given its implications for Jamie and Claire’s romance.
But Berry said that despite his concerns, he went into the storyline with enthusiasm.
Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) in season seven, part two of « Outlander. »
Starz
« I think as someone who’s been on the show for eight years and has sometimes felt like I’ve been on the bench, this was a great opportunity for me to step up my game, » Berry said.
« There was a lot of excitement, on my behalf, to portray something so challenging and weird and just kind of solve that mystery of how and why these characters do what they do, » he continued, adding: « It’s a dangerous moment for the show because it really tests the credulity of the audience to believe that these characters would do such a thing. »
« You still have to ground it in some element of truth, » he added.
Lord John Grey (David Berry) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) in season seven, part two of « Outlander. »
Starz
The actor said it was no easy feat to nail the scene in a way that would communicate his and Balfe’s characters’ shared trauma, corporeal urges, and the humanity behind their decision.
The pair prepared for the sequence with Vanessa Coffey, who has worked as an intimacy coordinator on the show since season six.
But preparation began long before even getting to set.
« Cait and I spent some time just doing some drama school kind of nerdy stuff, just improvising through the scene to find that stuff that isn’t spoken about, » Berry recalled.
« Of course, everyone had different ideas about how it should be depicted, and having Vanessa there to arbitrate all that was was really great, » he continued. « She had a really tough job because it was not like any other love scene that’s been depicted on the show. »
Due to its unique, unconventional nature, Berry said he would always look back on the scene and wonder if they could have done it differently.
« It’s one of those moments in which I’ll always look back and think, ‘Could we have done more?’ Because there are so many different ways to do it, » he said, adding that he thought they « gave it a good crack. »
« I was willing to push it as far as needed to go, » he continued. « There were ideas about how far we should push it, of course, and questions like ‘Do audiences really want to see what John and Claire get on heavy?’ and I still don’t know the answer. »
TikTok faces a potential ban in the US if ByteDance doesn’t divest by January 19.
The ban could impact creators relying on TikTok for income through brand deals and e-commerce.
Instagram and YouTube may benefit from a ban as creators shift their efforts.
TikTok creators and their teams are starting to take the threat of a ban in the US more seriously — and some wish they had begun preparing earlier.
TikTok could be yanked from US app stores as early as January 19 unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests. TikTok is challenging the law in court but was just handed another legal defeat this month.
While a ban might annoy many of TikTok’s 170 million US users, it would be far more impactful for those creators who use it to make money through brand deals, its Creator Rewards Program, or other methods.
« Looking back, I wish I had encouraged my talent to focus on YouTube Shorts about a year ago — but no time like the present, » said Estella Struck, founder of Viviene New York, referring to YouTube’s short-form video product. Viviene New York is a marketing agency that works with brands and several TikTok-native creators.
« We’re already preparing to diversify by focusing heavily on Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn for short-form video content, » Struck added.
Other creator-economy insiders expressed similar sentiments to BI about diversification. They generally felt that they could continue to build up audiences on other platforms or income through other gigs.
« The creator economy would take a blow, but it wouldn’t be fatal, » said Jasmine Enberg, VP and principal analyst at EMARKETER. « While over half of US companies use TikTok to work with creators and influencers, TikTok accounts for 17.2% of total spending. »
Some parts of the creator economy could be hit harder than others, however.
Barbara Jones, CEO of Outshine Talent, said a ban « would be crushing for the e-commerce side, » like those creators and brands earning money through TikTok Shop.
« Live e-commerce is really just getting started in the US, and TikTok Shop is leading the way, » Jones said. « So, I think that side would be devastated. I think for content creators that make short-form content, they will be less affected. »
Sam Saideman, CEO of talent firm Innovo.
Sam Saideman
‘We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January’
Jones said she’s gotten « a lot of calls of concerns and worry » about a potential TikTok ban.
Many creators and managers are putting together post-TikTok plans, even if they think there’s a chance it could stick around.
« We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January despite, in my opinion, not thinking it will actually be gone, » Sam Saideman, CEO of talent firm Innovo, told BI. « Best case, it doesn’t go away. »
Some ways of preparing are easier than others, Saideman said.
« Low-hanging fruit is to migrate fans to other social platforms, » Saideman said. « Harder sells are to migrate those audiences to a place that is not reliant on algorithms such as SMS lists, email lists, or exclusive membership groups. »
TikToker Joseph Arujo, who has over 830,000 followers, said he believes that even if TikTok is banned, it’ll be short-lived, and ByteDance would be forced to sell.
« I think it’s scary now that there is this deadline, » Arujo said. « But I’m weighing out my options and going to other platforms. »
Arujo isn’t the only creator thinking about making changes. Justine, a content creator who has almost 260,000 followers on TikTok, said she isn’t too worried about the potential ban but is thinking about « shifting a lot of focus » to Instagram and YouTube.
« I think regardless of what job you have, what role you have, having more streams of income, especially in this economy, is almost essential, » said Justine, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons.
Creator Lauren Schiller, cofounder of the clothing company OGBFF, said that in the short term, she would post to Instagram reels, and then look to make longer-format videos for YouTube and post on her brand’s blog.
A TikTok ban wouldn’t impact all creators equally, Enberg said.
« A ban would be detrimental to up-and-coming creators and small businesses that rely solely or primarily on the app, » Enberg said. « Big brands and established creators would also be disrupted, but can better withstand the upheaval as they’re more likely to have diversified their channels and have large, engaged audiences on other platforms. »
Megan, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons, is a stay-at-home mom who uses TikTok Shop as a side hustle to earn extra income through affiliate commissions.
« It’s good to save, to take the trips, to buy Christmas gifts, to live a little more not so paycheck to paycheck, » she said, adding that she earned nearly $8,000 in TikTok commissions one month.
She said she planned to allocate time to her other side hustles to make money if TikTok is banned.
Lauren Schiller (L) and Angela Ruis (R) run a « Y2K »-inspired clothing company that has grown an audience thanks to TikTok.
« If there’s a shift, I believe Instagram will likely take center stage, especially with its direct product-linking capabilities, » Struck said.
Enberg said she thought Instagram and YouTube would be the biggest beneficiaries as they both have short-form video products that are natural fits for TikTokers.
« But even if a platform can replicate the technology, they can’t force a change in culture, » she said. « The type of viral, FOMO and trend-driven behavior doesn’t exist on reels, even as the platform has tweaked its algorithm to better serve relevant content, including from smaller creators, to users. »
Nya-Gabriella Parchment, cohead of brand partnerships at influencer firm Digital Brand Architects, said a lot of brands are betting on Instagram reels.
« It’s easier to convert on Instagram, with ways to link out, so usually brands still use Instagram as their bedrock, » Parchment said.
Parchment said creators are also interested in Snapchat again.
Arujo is one of them.
« Ever since the first threat of a TikTok ban, I decided I’m not going to rely on just this, » Arujo said.
« Snapchat has been my No. 1, » he said.
EMARKETER is owned by Business Insider’s partner company Axel Springer.
