Social media is a fast-paced industry where the next viral moment is always around the corner. On TikTok, a viral dance or sound clip might only have the longevity of a week at most before it fades into obscurity. This leaves creators constantly chasing the next viral moment that could catapult them to fame. One way to do this is to reinvent the way people perceive you or to do something bizarre over and over to gain views and followers. Many creators have built their careers and brands on little white lies that have snowballed into bigger lies without anyone ever finding out. This all changed when TikTok was set to be banned in the United States.
The US Government has been threatening to ban TikTok since 2019 due to claims that the company is selling personal data to the Chinese Government. These claims have been refuted by TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean, in front of the US Congress. However, in January 2025, TikTok announced that it would be banned on 18 January for its American users.
With a TikTok ban looming over the heads of American creators and threatening the livelihoods that they have created on the app, many decided to go out with a bang. Using a Family Guy sound clip that says, “since we’re all going to die, there’s something I feel I have to share with you”, influencers shared secrets about themselves and their platforms days before the ban. They were all under the assumption that the app would never be available to them again.
Content creator @babydumplingg amassed over 2.2 million followers for her “mukbang” videos, where viewers were amazed that she could eat so much food and not gain any weight. She revealed that she did not eat all of the food she claimed to have eaten in her content.
@kaelimaee is a popular creator with 14.5 million followers. She rose to fame for her various ice videos where she would make different shaped and coloured ice to use in her drinks. During this confession period, she admitted to never actually using the ice she made because she does not like ice in her drinks.
A few fitness influencers came out and said that they did not actually do the workouts they were promoting, or that they had not achieved their “dream body” through exercise. Instead, some admitted to having cosmetic procedures such as Brazilian butt lifts. However, some confessions were small and harmless, such as @annasixar not liking coffee at the beginning of her Starbucks Series, or @charlidamelio admitting that her “anxiety pen” was in fact a vape.
In what could be described as the blink of an eye, TikTok was unbanned a staggering 14 hours after its initial ban. American creators came back to the site to conduct damage control for their previous confession videos. For some, it might have felt like returning after a natural disaster. What do you do when you think the plane is going down and you share your deepest secrets, but it turns out to be a false alarm? How do you repair a brand based on fitness if everyone knows it is all a façade? Or how do you continue making ice if your audience is aware that you do not actually use it in the end? It is the metaphorical lifting of the curtain. How do you recover or even continue to create content?
One of the hardest truths for influencers who have admitted to lying is the inevitable backlash from their fans. Followers who feel deceived and betrayed will unfollow or leave negative comments on their posts. Trust, once broken, can be difficult to fix. However, it is not impossible for these creators to continue their careers in the social media bubble as many have before. While the online world may have room for mistakes, it is the actions that follow, such as taking responsibility and evolving as a creator, that ultimately define an influencer’s future. Life after the ban is not just about repairing a personal brand; it is about reconnecting with your audience in a more honest and meaningful way.
