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With a ban looming, NH TikTok creators look for backup plans

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With a ban looming, NH TikTok creators look for backup plans


Some TikTok users in New Hampshire are thinking about their next moves, in case the app is shut down in the coming days.

The future of the platform is uncertain, and it could be banned as soon as this weekend. Under a federal law passed last year, the Chinese company that owns the app must find a new owner for its U.S. operations by Jan. 19. If that doesn’t happen, it could shut down.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments from TikTok that such a ban would be unconstitutional, but it’s unclear whether the court will intervene before this weekend’s deadline.

NHPR spoke to several people in New Hampshire who’ve built large audiences on TikTok about how they use the app, and how they might be affected if they lose access to this social media platform.

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An art teacher on the Seacoast

Sarah Jones, a high school arts teacher in Portsmouth, has been using TikTok since 2020. She’s found a big community there. She was teaching remotely during the pandemic, and the platform allowed her to connect with other teachers to figure out how to reach their students.

“Then I started sharing the student artwork, mainly as a way to connect with my students and to hype up their work and give them some praise in a medium that they recognize,” Jones said. “It took off and people really appreciated seeing the student artwork and just like the joy that the kids have working in art.”

Last May, her TikToks got the attention of The Kelly Clarkson show — Jones and several students were flown in to New York City, so that they could be interviewed. Separately, her followers helped to raise $50,000 for a colleague who lost his wife unexpectedly. She’s also secured brand partnerships to help stock classroom supplies.

“I think it’s unprecedented in the U.S. for us to see something like this, and it’s sad,” Jones said. “It’s a big loss of people’s ability to communicate freely with each other and to share their knowledge in such a powerful way.”

Jones is currently migrating her video content to YouTube, in case the ban goes through.

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TikTok, she said, has a completely different feel than any other platform. Her content doesn’t get the same traction on Instagram and Facebook, and she also has concerns about supporting those platforms’ parent company, Meta. She said her personal art business account has been struggling to get traction on Instagram for the last 10 years or so.

“It’s really hard to kind of quantify how fast and how powerful it is. I’ve just never seen a quicker real-time connection,” Jones said, of her experience on TikTok. “When something happens, everybody knows about it very quickly on TikTok, and I don’t think that has much to do with what I do. I think my videos just make people happy, because they like seeing the student art, but if we’re trying to explain why people are sad about losing TikTok, it’s because the user experience is different.”

An environmental advocate in Nashua

Doria Brown typically posts environmental content from her home in Nashua, ranging from tips on gardening to practical advice on building resilience to climate change. She said the platform has helped her connect with people in Australia, Dubai and England — anyone who’s interested in environmental content might find her feed.

Brown has been trying to get her New Hampshire legislators to at least postpone the TikTok ban. She wants New Hampshire’s U.S. Senators to support Democratic Sen. Edward Markey’s legislation to extend TikTok for at least another 270 days.

“I’ve called both of my senators to see if they’d be willing to support just an extension of the deadline, so that maybe we can figure something out for the app as a country,” Brown said.

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As she sees it, TikTok still has some room for growth — especially when it comes to helping more content creators of color to get recognized. In 2021, a group of Black TikTok creators went on strike because they were not getting credit for their role in starting many popular dances and trends that took off on the platform.

Brown, who is Black, said she’s also used TikTok to raise awareness around social justice issues. Back in 2020, she felt like she needed to bring attention to racial issues that were part of a broader reckoning after the murder of George Floyd.

She’s also gotten sponsorships and worked with companies about carbon neutral programs, which she finds exciting.

“I wouldn’t have been able to get the opportunities to work with those different brands and kind of have that extra income, which results in being able to monetize your account, if I didn’t get on TikTok in 2020,” Brown said.

Also in 2020, Brown joined EcoTok, a group of popular TikTok accounts who focus on environmental issues. She said the experience really helped her learn about how to monetize her account and how to create content more effectively.

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“TikTok has brought a lot of communities like that together,” Brown said. “Whether it’s somebody who really likes to do makeup, or whether your activism is social justice, or if it’s climate change or something like that.”

Brown can still earn money by posting on Instagram, she said, but TikTok helped her grow her following there. If the ban comes, she’s thinking about expanding to YouTube, as well. She said she’s going to miss being able to catch up on breaking news — like the Los Angeles fires — and feels TikTok’s potential disappearance is happening at a crucial time.

“I would really hate to see it go during the time when people need that connection most,” Brown said.

A real estate agent in Salem

Kristin Reyes, who lives in Salem, has been using the app since 2022 to promote her real estate business under the account MoveMeToNH. For her, other platforms like Instagram have plateaued in terms of her reach.

Over time, she noticed that traditional realtor content – like high-resolution videos and still images — didn’t really pick up much attention on TikTok.

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Instead, she noticed more interest when she started doing faster, more casual walk-throughs of properties, where she could point out her favorite features of a home. She also said she feels the culture of TikTok is more witty than other platforms and seems to offer “endless potential” of who she can reach with her posts, so she enjoys being there more.

Her followers include people already living in New Hampshire but also people who are interested in moving here. One TikTok of her describing New Hampshire has more than 800,000 views.

Last year, Reyes said she closed on six homes thanks to leads she got through TikTok, something that hasn’t happened with other platforms. The ban, for her, would mean the loss of an environment that made it easier to find people and explore lots of different topics. On her own personal feed, she says she’s getting updates about real estate, but also learning about buffalos in Montana and the latest updates on the California wildfires.

Reyes said she is looking at other apps, including Xiaohongshu or RedNote, but she noted that RedNote has also drawn concerns from the U.S. government because it’s owned by a Chinese company — a prime concern underlying the potential TikTok ban.

“If TikTok does get banned and goes away, we have to go somewhere, right?” Reyes said. “I think we’ve shown from the growth of TikTok over the last few years and from the amount of hours that people spend on it that people want this type of outlet, where you feel like you can learn things that are maybe censored out on other platforms and you can just get a lot more raw, unadulterated content that’s not ‘made perfect’ as it would be on another app.”

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Bank Robber, Sexual Assaulter, With 40-Plus Year Criminal History, Wanted On Parole Violation: NH DOC

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Bank Robber, Sexual Assaulter, With 40-Plus Year Criminal History, Wanted On Parole Violation: NH DOC


CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is asking for the public’s help in finding a sex offender and robbery convict, with “violent tendencies,” who is wanted on a parole violation.

Michael J. Wells is 60, white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs around 150 lbs. He has dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. Officials said Wells sometimes uses the following aliases: “Michael Morris,” “Michael Morse,” and “Michael Kirby.” He has Tasmanian devil, star, moon, and skull tattoos on his right arm and a cross over a skull with a spider web on his left arm.

The warrant against Wells was issued by the New Hampshire Parole Board as well as Manchester police for duty to report, after accusing him of absconding from parole and failing to register as a sex offender.

“In December 1994,” an alert stated, “Wells was convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault and as a result, is required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the remainder of his life. Wells is currently on Parole Supervision for robbery.”

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In December 2018, Wells robbed the Citizens Bank in Manchester, passing a note stating, “I have a gun. No tracking. No dye bag. $20-$50 quickly. No alarm.” In August 2021, he committed the same offense under similar circumstances, officials said, after he was placed on escape status from the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit. He was arrested in Massachusetts a few weeks later.

Wells is known to frequent both Concord and Manchester.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Wells criminal history dates back more than four decades, according to superior court records, after he was accused of forgery in Nashua in August 1985. In June 1988, he was convicted on one forgery charge.

Wells was accused of theft in 1990 and he pleaded guilty to the charge a month later.

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Wells was accused of bail jumping in February 1989.

In 1994, Wells was accused of aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual assault, and second-degree assault charges in Nashua. In December 1994, he pleaded guilty to the second-degree assault charge. Wells was found guilty by the court on one aggravated felonious sexual assault charge in January 1996.

Wells was also accused of escape in December 1998.

In 2005 and 2006, more charges were racked up, including four acts prohibited counts in Nashua, a false report to law enforcement, receiving stolen property, two acts prohibited counts in Salem, and forgery in Manchester. Wells was found guilty on two of the drug charges in Salem and the Manchester forgery charge, while the others were nolle prossed.

In April 2019, Wells was convicted on the December 2018 bank robbery charges. He was given a three-and-a-half-to-10-year sentence with 136 days of time served credit and a 10-to-20-year sentence, suspended for 10 years.

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N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe

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N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe


One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.

The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.

“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.

A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.

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Modifying civil rights standard

Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).

The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.

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The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.

Open enrollment for K-12 schools

A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.

The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.

In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.

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Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.

Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.


This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.


Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.





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Boston MedFlight expands into NH

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Boston MedFlight expands into NH


Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.

The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.

Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.

“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”

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Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.

“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.

Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.

Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.

“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”

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Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.

“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.

Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.

“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.

It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.

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“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”

Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.



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