Riri Bichri burst into tears on Friday morning while discussing news that the Supreme Court had ruled against TikTok, rejecting the company’s arguments against the law that effectively bans it in the United States next week.
“It’s really hitting me because I feel it’s like in a world where there’s so much judgment, TikTok provided a place where I can be free, I can be cringe, I can be who I am,” said Ms. Bichri, a content creator based in New York best known for her 2000s nostalgia parody videos.
“I shouldn’t cry about something so stupid, but it really changed my life,” she added.
For TikTok creators, it’s a sad and stressful time.
In the days leading up to the ruling, creators have been posting memorial tributes and preemptively eulogizing a platform many say has changed their fortunes and given them a sense of community.
“The people that I saw on my For You Page ended up becoming my real life friends,” said Arielle Fodor, who joined TikTok in March 2020.
At the time, she was a kindergarten teacher who had just been sent home as the pandemic began, and she was looking for a substitute for IRL connections.