The countdown to Tik Tok is on – the viral dog sledding tour in Idaho responds to a possible TikTok ban – LocalNews8.com

DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI) – An Idaho company could feel the pinch over a proposed ban on TikTok.

TikTok’s Chinese parent company Bytedance has until January to sell the platform to an American technology company or the app could be banned in the United States. The ban is currently subject to legal disputes.

With this in mind, a report from Oxford Economics found that 45% of small businesses on TikTok consider it essential to their business.

Abby and Michael Traver founded their dog sledding company, Call of the Wyld, in 2019.

“We’re really about education and preserving the heritage of dog sledding,” Michael told Local News 8.

But when the pandemic put their dreams on hold, TikTok offered them a way out.

“We started (TikTok) the same way, it’s kind of fun, it’s just a little joke,” Abby says.

After a year, the couple had gained a following. In March 2021, the couple released their first viral video, which reached 9 million views in November 2024.

The couple’s small business now boasts a small social media audience of 61,000 followers, all from a video highlighting the birth of their rare Seppala Siberian huskies.

“There are probably six or seven kennels in the United States that help keep the breed alive,” Michael told Local News 8.

“This is the video that made us go viral,” Abby adds. “I have no idea why. But it really resonated with a lot of people.”

But as the countdown to the possible TikTok ban approaches, the team, like many other small businesses across the country, is wondering: “Why?”

“We consider ourselves low-risk,” Michael said. “Having photos of dogs and videos of dogs really isn’t the end of the world to be out there?”

But the risk of potential user data leaks and potential national security threats have raised concerns in the US Senate.

According to a Washington Post study; Facebook, Google and Twitter all collect more data than the Chinese app.

There may still be hope for the social media company as the ban comes with litigation. Additionally, President-elect Donald Trump, who once opposed the app, now says he supports the platform after joining himself in June.

“Both political parties use it in their campaigns,” Abby said. As scary as it can be and as much as we want to be responsive to people’s feelings, it is actually a very powerful platform.”

So powerful, in fact, that TikTok claims the platform has contributed $21 billion to the US economy through small businesses.

With teams and small companies like Call of the Wyld, the sled dogs and their trainers prepare for any obstacles in their path.

“We are dog sled drivers, we would persevere. We’re resourceful,” Abby Traver told Local News 8. “But a lot of people these days are very visual people. They don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on something when they do it. I don’t know what the expectations are if they can’t go on TikTok and say, “Oh, this is how their kennel works.” Their dogs are kept. I can see that their dogs are well fed and look healthy and they are going to the vet.’ Those are all things that give people confidence in us,” Traver said.