A TikTok Ban Would Harm College Sports’ Have-Nots: Adam Minter

On Friday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether TikTok should be banned in the US on January 19. Mia Manson, a pole vaulter at the University of Michigan, will be paying attention. She earns thousands of dollars (and merchandise) by posting videos to the addictive social media site for brands like Sweetgreen Inc. and the prebiotic soda brand Poppi. If the Court upholds the ban, she told me during a recent phone call, “it will definitely hit my income.”

She’s right, and she’s not alone. For tens of thousands of college athletes, most of whom play ...