The TikTok ban and my 'creator reset'
Yes, I'm bringing back this newsletter. Hear me out.
Thank you for being here. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Idée Fixe - the newsletter for curious minds. If you don’t remember signing up for the newsletter, I don’t blame you as I’ve been very quiet here for the past few years.
WHAT | I’m bringing the newsletter back. After four years, starting up again feels strange - there’s no seamless way to restart, so I’ll leave it at that. This space will focus on exploring the intersection of tech, F1, and culture, delivered weekly. My desire with this newsletter is to offer unique insights into the business and technology of sports, the future of fan engagement, and the cultural shifts through the lens of Formula 1. I’ll also share standout stories and links that caught my eye.
Not sure if it’s for you? Give it a week or two before hitting unsubscribe - no hard feelings. And if you’ve got topics or ideas you’d like me to explore, just hit reply.
WHY NOW | There are three key reasons why this feels like the right time for me to revive this newsletter:
A craving for depth
After creating almost 2,000 short-form videos over on TikTok (and IG and YouTube), I miss the beauty of storytelling - where nuance, context, and ideas can breathe. Short-form is great, but it’s exhausting to create for algorithms alone.The world is converging
Industries like tech, sports, media, and culture are colliding in ways we’ve never seen before. This intersection deserves thoughtful dives, not just headlines. This newsletter feels like the much-needed companion to my short-form vertical content.The TikTok ban wake-up call
Saturday night’s brief TikTok ban was an important reminder: relying solely on platforms is risky. After years of creating on "rented land," I need a space that’s truly my own. And like it or not, email is still the most direct and effective way to connect with a community.
I’m Toni Cowan-Brown I’m a tech and F1 commentator, and I’ve spent the past five years on the floor of way too many F1, FE and WEC team garages learning about the business, politics and tech of motorsports. I hope you’ll stick around.
The TikTok Ban, Explained
From a political/tech POV
TikTok has always existed in a space of tension between technology and politics. Owned by ByteDance (along with Lemon8 and CapCut), a Chinese company, its global dominance has been scrutinized by U.S. lawmakers citing national security concerns. But what those concerns actually are has often been murky and has certainly not been made clear.
Here’s a timeline of key events leading to yesterday’s brief app ban and one of the most interesting days - culturally - I’ve seen in a while, because truly so much happened:
August 6, 2020: President Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok unless ByteDance divested its U.S. operations within 45 days. This marked the first significant move against the app, sparking debates over data security and global tech sovereignty. I did a video in April of 2020 explaining why this was a first for Americans, yet something the rest of the world had been experiencing for decades.
August 14, 2020: A subsequent order extended the deadline to 90 days, citing credible evidence of potential national security threats.
June 9, 2021: President Biden revoked Trump’s executive orders but initiated a broader review of foreign-owned apps, including TikTok, to assess risks.
December 30, 2022: The No TikTok on Government Devices Act was signed into law, banning TikTok on federal devices with certain exceptions.
March 13, 2024: The U.S. House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, aiming to ban TikTok unless ByteDance sold its U.S. operations.
April 24, 2024: President Biden signed the act into law, setting a deadline for ByteDance to divest by January 19, 2025.
January 17, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law, leading TikTok to go dark on January 18, 2025, as mandated. It’s worth noting that the Biden-Harris Administration said they wouldn’t enforce the ban and decided to leave it up to the incoming President (aka Donald Trump). For at least 10 hours, incoming President Donald Trump had essentially a billboard on every screen of active TikTok users with a placeholder that first read “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office…” but we didn’t have to wait that long because the next morning a new banned read, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the USA”.
January 19, 2025: President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to delay the ban via executive order, allowing TikTok to restore service in the early hours of Sunday Morning. Not soon after, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, announced that Meta would be introducing in Q1 of 2025 a new editing app called Edits - smooth. Many noted the hilarious timing of this announcement and Complex called it the “bootleg version of CapCut”. More importantly, so many have noted that the ban is a distraction from what is about to happen across America this week, and I don’t disagree. In the end, this stunt might have not worked like Trump and others expected it to - too many saw right through it and the ban was so short it was almost pointless.
This brief ban felt more like a stunt and symbolic than strategic, sparking debates over its effectiveness and timing. For a deeper dive into the complexities, check out UnderTheDeskNews’s latest video on the topic.
From a creator's POV
NOTE | It feels fitting that my last post before this hiatus was about the rise of individual athletes and their economic power, a topic intrinsically tied to platforms like TikTok that have provided so many with economic growth and additional income. The temporary ban reminded us why TikTok means so much to creators and communities:
It’s a platform that makes people feel seen.
It’s a space where creativity thrives, jobs are built, and culture is defined.
It gave us tools (like CapCut) and formats (unscripted, unedited and vertical video) that changed the way we consume and create content.
As Sophia Smith Galer wrote in The Guardian, TikTok succeeded because it married technology with human creativity, offering both tools and visibility to creators.
Taylor Lorenz published a piece this weekend called “The Great Creator Reset” and although the focus was mostly on progressive (news) creators, I would argue that the ban put in motion something that many of us were already feeling - a desire for change, a need to reset and just overall looking at new ways to create and consume content, maybe even a look back at how it used to be.
In the past 24 hours I’ve seen so many people exclaim that when TikTok gets banned, you can find them on YouTube for longer form content. For months, there has been this desire for slower and longer form content (aka YouTube) from both the consumers and creators. The Founder of Substack, Chris Best, saw such an influx of new people joining and launching newsletters on Substack that he took to TikTok on Sunday to share that Substack (the tool I’m currently using) hit N.1 in the app store.
But the ban also underscored two lessons for creators:
Diversify your platforms: Relying on one platform is risky. Spread your content across multiple spaces to avoid losing your audience overnight. As Ashley Rachel Villa, Founder and CEO of Rare Global (talent management) put it on her stories on Sunday night, diversifying your content strategies is not only a smart move but crucial for career longevity, with a focus on the ever-changing market. The one thing I would add to this is thinking beyond social platforms, cue my second lesson from this weekend (and one I’ve known for a long time and the reason I’ve revived my newsletter).
Own your audience: Social media connects you to people, but email, newsletters, or subscription-based platforms allow you to maintain that connection directly. Start thinking beyond rented platforms and build something sustainable.
Links Worth Your Time
🔗 New Sports newsletter in town
A must-read for sports, culture, and fashion enthusiasts: Daniel-Yaw Miller, formerly at BoF, just launched his newsletter, go check it out, and thank me later: SportsVerse.
🔗 A day to remember | F1
This YouTube video captures the softer, human side of F1 drivers: Watch here.
🔗 What Internet Fandoms Can Tell Us About 2025 | Wired
An insightful look at how online communities shaped news cycles and culture last year: Read here.
🔗 2024: A Transformative Year in Sports | Andrew Petcash
A reflection on how tech, politics, and fashion are reshaping the sports industry: Read here.
🔗 Unfiltered conversation with the Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers
Just in case you missed what I’ve been up to for the past few years. Watch here.
i'm psyched to read you again here Toni -- F1 ftw 🫶
Welcome back! And thanks so much for shouting out SportsVerse!!