TikTok’s Campaign to Stop U.S. Ban ‘Backfires,’ Enraging Congress

TikTok sent a push notification to United States users on Thursday morning asking them to call their local representative to “Stop a TikTok shutdown.” The app refers to a bipartisan bill gaining momentum in Congress this week which could ban TikTok altogether.

“Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok,” said the push notification to TikTok users, seen by Gizmodo. “Speak up now – before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression… Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”

The push notification featured a space to enter your zip code and a “Call Now” button that would immediately call your local congress member. TikTok has over 150 million American users, and a bill making its way through Congress could cut access to all of them. Bipartisan lawmakers from the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party authored this bill. The bill would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores, unless the app’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, gives up control of TikTok.

In a statement to Gizmodo, a TikTok spokesperson said the notification only went to users over 18.

TikTok’s effort appears to have worked at first, as Congressional offices were reportedly bombarded with phone calls about the potential TikTok ban on Thursday, according to Politico.

“It’s so so bad. Our phones have not stopped ringing. They’re teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we can’t take it away,” one House GOP staffer told Politico.

But it now appears the move has backfired, according to a Politico reporter. The large number of calls has reportedly enraged congress members who then unanimously advanced the bill in a 50-0 vote. The bill that could ban TikTok is headed to the House floor for a vote.

Despite TikTok CEO Shou Chew’s assurance that the Chinese government does not control the app, U.S. lawmakers are concerned that China has too much influence over Americans with TikTok. FBI Director Christopher Wray says TikTok “screams” of national security concerns due to its ties to China.

“The bill is important, we welcome this step,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre regarding this bill.

The bill would allow the FBI, and other intelligence agencies, to identify social media apps under the control of foreign adversaries, such as TikTok. Then the President could ban these products from online app stores. There’s an exception to the ban, requiring the app to cut ties with foreign adversaries within 180 days of designation. NBC reports the bill will be sent to the House floor on Thursday for a future vote.

TikTok says this is an outright ban, despite Congress noting there is an option to avoid the ban by divesting from ByteDance.

“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” said a TikTok spokesperson.

This looming ban on TikTok seems to have more ground than previous attempts. In 2020, President Trump said he would ban TikTok due to its ties to China, though his attempts were stopped, and no ban ever happened. At the time, a court called Trump’s decision to ban TikTok “arbitrary and capricious” because it didn’t consider alternatives for the popular social media app. This current ban seems to give TikTok at least one other option to avoid a ban, though the company may not be happy about it.