TikTok Is Urging Users To Call Congress About A Looming Ban



As support grows for a bill in Congress that would effectively ban TikTok in the US, the video platform is trying to rally support among a key group: its own users, The Verge reported.

TikTok sent users in the US a push notification on Wednesday, warning that “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok” that would [strip] 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.” The page says that a ban would “damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience.”

The alert includes a way for users to find their representatives and call their office.

According to the Verge, the notification comes shortly after the White House expressed support for a bipartisan bill directed at TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The bill — called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — is in response to the perceived national security risks of TikTok, particularly around how the company collects user data.

The bill would require that TikTok break off from ByteDance or risk being removed from app stores in the US.

Axios reported members of Congress are being flooded with calls from angry constitutions after TikTok launched a new campaign warning its users that the Chinese-owned app was at risk of being shut down in the U.S.

According to Axios, a key House committee voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to advance bipartisan legislation that would force ByteDance — TikTok’s Chinese parent company — to divest its ownership of the app within 165 days.

The highly unusual 50-0 vote in the House Energy Commerce Committee — which unveiled the bill two days ago alongside the China Select Committee — reflected some of the anger among members about TikTok’s pressure campaign.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Thursday he would “absolutely” put the bill on the House floor.

The White House also indicated that President Biden would sign the bill, injecting new urgency— and aggression — into TikTok’s campaign to counter the yearlong efforts to address the app’s national security risks.

After asking users to enter their ZIP code, TikTok then directed them to call their representative in Congress and let them “know what TikTok means you and tell them to vote NO.”

Axios also reported that the authors of the bill responded furiously to what they called a “massive propaganda campaign,” emphasizing that TikTok would not be banned if ByteDance divests its ownership.

“TikTok is characterizing it as an outright ban, which is of course an outright lie,” House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told reporters.

“So bad we turned phones off… Which means we could miss calls from constituents who actually need urgent help with something,” a senior Democratic aide added.

In my opinion, TikTok appears to be engaging in propaganda, by making its users feel that the app could disappear from their phones. Ironically, this is causing lawmakers in Congress to turn off their phones. I don’t think the pressure campaign from TikTok is working.