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Billion Dollar Boy Releases Data Analysis of January’s TikTok Ban

by | Apr 3, 2025

On Thursday, April 3rd, Billion Dollar Boy analysed the activity of over 10,000 creators across the US and UK, analysing more than 78,000 posts and 19 billion impressions. The data compared key performance metrics and output from the following weeks in relation to the implementation of the Supreme Court’s TikTok ban in the US on January 19th.

  • Week 1: January 12-18th 2025 (the week before the initial ban)
  • Week 2: January 19-25th 2025 (the week after the initial ban)
  • Week 3: March 23rd – 29th 2025 (the most recent and last full week before the new ban deadline on April 5th)

US market data

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US market analysis

  • TikTok
    • Following the news in January that the ban deadline would be postponed by executive order, there was a flurry of creator activity, as creators returned to the platform. However, that confidence isn’t wholehearted as increases in content creation on YouTube Shorts and Instagram surpassed TikTok following the initial ban, showing some nervousness amid uncertainty around the platform.
    • US creators’ confidence in TikTok has, however, grown since the initial ban was upheld, which is reflected in the increase in content creation between the first week following the ban and the most recent week. Whereas creators were slowing down with their content creation on the platform in the run up the January 19th ban, they’re now ramping it up in the run up to the April 5th ban – showing their defiance and hinting at a growing conviction that the platform won’t be banned.
  • Instagram Reels
    • Creators are also hedging their bets on a potential TikTok nationwide ban by diversifying their platform presence on both Instagram and YouTube – but, in particular, on Instagram, which has seen sustained growth in activity throughout this period of uncertainty surrounding TikTok.
  • YouTube Shorts
    • Initial enthusiasm around YouTube Shorts in the instance that the TikTok ban is implemented in full has cooled since the ban was upheld on January 19th. Despite a flurry of increased activity on the platform by creators initially, content production has now returned to pre-ban levels.

UK market data

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UK market analysis

  • TikTok
    • UK creators have mirrored US creators. The increase in content production on the platform suggests the UK creator population saw the potential impact of the ban in the US on their American creator peers as an opportunity to grow their own audience in the US.
    • Like US creators, UK creators’ confidence that the ban won’t be implemented has grown which is reflected in the escalation of their content output on the platform over time.
  • Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts
    • Both Instagram and YouTube have benefited from the TikTok ban with UK creators increasing their content production on both platforms since the US ban, and sustaining – even growing – their increased output.
    • Instagram Reels appears to the primary beneficiary, having increased content creation the most (+30%) since the ban to present day, while YouTube has seen the smallest growth (+15%) over the same period – smaller than TikTok even (+19%)