LaDarrius Hutcherson remembers the day his career changed, and he has TikTok to thank for it.

On Aug. 15, 2022, a video he filmed inside Ruth’s Place in Irondale went viral. Since then, under the handle LHut, he has built a following of nearly 60,000 on TikTok, using the platform to spotlight small, minority-owned and unheralded restaurants in Central Alabama.

“Instantly, in that moment, it showed me the power of TikTok,” Hutcherson said about that first video.

Now, that platform is at risk.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Friday on whether TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, must sell to a U.S. company by Jan. 19 or be banned nationwide. The case pits national security concerns against free speech rights, with Alabama figures weighing in on both sides.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall supports the ban, arguing TikTok shares user data with China.

“The law TikTok challenges requires the platform to divest from its ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” Marshall said. “The law is not based on TikTok’s speech, but rather on its practices of harvesting Americans’ data and sharing it with the CCP. The First Amendment does not require our country to subject itself to that foreign national security threat.”

George Bovenizer, an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama who teaches courses on social media, sees the case as a First Amendment battle, noting TikTok’s massive influence—170 million U.S. users, including a growing number in Alabama.

“We’ve seen with social media platforms that they grow and become popular and then a lot of times, that popularity wanes,” he said. “It’s hard to see that happening with TikTok … the numbers are just enormous.”

Growing influence

TikTok has a growing influence among those who use it for more than scrolling through and wasting time watching benign videos about barking dogs or cooking tips. It’s also a site where a growing number of Americans are getting their news.

According to a Pew Research Report, 52% of adults say they regularly get their news from TikTok, a growing number at a time when other social media sites have seen their influence dwindle.

President-elect Donald Trump, now with 14.7 million TikTok followers, is an active user. He has filed a legal brief urging the court to delay any ban until he takes office.

Brilyn Hollyhand, head of the RNC’s Youth Advisory Council and a Tuscaloosa resident, sees TikTok as a vital political tool and has pitched Trump on using it for presidential messaging.

“TikTok is where my peers spend a lot of their time and has become the town square of our generation,” said Hollyhand, who has over 64,500 TikTok followers.

TikTok is popular among youth, with about six in ten teens ages 13 to 17 (63%) using the platform, according to Pew. That includes 57% who report using it daily, and 16% who say they are on it constantly.

The site’s popularity has given a platform for influencers and social media celebrities to boost their profiles, though some are urging their followers to switch to YouTube, Instagram, Snap Chat and other sites if TikTok shuts down.

Jackson Dean, 21, a Madison native who lives in Los Angeles and has 5.7 million followers, said he is concerned about people losing their livelihoods.

“I understand the national security concerns, but I think there are better ways to go about it other than deleting thousands and thousands of people’s jobs,” he said. “Some people’s lives will change drastically.”

Regulating social media

The lawsuit aside, concerns continue to swell over TikTok and other social media sites having a dangerous influence on minors. Only a handful of states have implemented restrictions on social media use for minors, and some of those cases are being challenged in court.

Arkansas adopted a law in 2023 mandating parental consent for social media users under 18, but it is being challenged in federal court. Tennessee’s law, also requiring parental consent for social media use among minors, is also wrapped up in the courts over complaints that it’s a First Amendment violation.

In Alabama, state Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, expects legislation this session addressing age restrictions. He said there is an “appetite” among Alabama lawmakers to place an age restriction on social media sites, and he anticipates a bill surfacing after the session begins Feb. 8.

Robbins sponsored legislation in 2022 to require high school-age students to receive age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate instruction on social media risks and how to use them properly. That legislation didn’t advance largely because it placed added educational and teaching requirements on schools, Robbins said.

“We’ve changed the focus on how to regulate the industry,” Robbins said.

As far as TikTok goes, Robbins said he believes the company is an outlier among social media sites – and not in a good way.

“If we look back to a time in the 1950s, we’d find it weird that we were getting our news from the Soviets,” Robbins said. “The fact we allow the Chinese to control a media outlet, I think it’s good to put restraints on China.”

For Hutcherson and other Alabama creators, the stakes are high, and they are rooting for TikTok’s survival.

“TikTok has been the driving force for my career,” Hutcherson said. “It allowed people to get to know me and gravitate to my other platforms which I’m super thankful for. I’m grateful for TikTok.”