My business was shut down during COVID because the government deemed it "non-essential."

So when I see comments like "get a real job," I can’t agree with that mindset. Every job is "real" if someone is willing to pay for the service or product. We can debate the merits of what qualifies as a "fiat job" all day, but the fact is, many influencer jobs would still exist under a hard money system.

To me, the issue isn’t the existence of influencers or how they make their living. The real problem lies in the government’s ability to shut down someone’s livelihood whenever they decide it’s problematic, for whatever reason.

I can’t help but feel that the push to ban TikTok is just a tactic to force its sale to an American company. If a permanent ban does happen, it could ultimately benefit platforms like Nostr by drawing more attention to decentralized protocols. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of people's livelihoods being taken away by bureaucrats in suits.