Legislators and policymakers have indicated that they’re moving forward with the plan to ban TikTok on a nationwide level.
The growing effort to bar TikTok comes after its chief Shou Zi Chew appeared before a US House committee on Thursday, where lawmakers from both parties fenced him about national security and other concerns involving the app and as well-known users like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes out to protest.
As the drama continues, thousands of video edits swamped the app with spoofs making fun of different moments in the hearing. Young users have empaled politicians as out of touch for questions about TikTok’s technology.
“This is the most boomer thing I have ever seen,” one caption reads on a video of a member of Congress accusing TikTok of tracking users’ pupil dilation.
Legislators Face Protests
The grassroots social media effort highlights the tension between the app’s growing popularity and lawmakers’ push to ban it. TikTok now has more than 150 million users in the US.
Despite the protests, legislators appear set on pushing ahead with restricting the platform. On Sunday, Kevin McCarthy, the US House of Representatives speaker, said lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security concerns about TikTok, alleging China’s government has had access to the app’s user data.
“The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist party,” McCarthy said on Twitter.
Outside of Thursday’s hearing, a group of more than 30 content creators protested the potential ban, holding signs that said: “Keep TikTok.”
Why TikTok shouldn’t be banned
An absolute ban on the app would be a distressing setback to thousands of small businesses that have turned to TikTok to reach potential customers rather than spending more money on traditional and expensive forms of marketing.
Kellis Landrum, the co-founder of Los Angeles marketing agency True North Social, said Facebook and Instagram are “pay-to-play” platforms that don’t give as much of a return on investment.
“TikTok offers the broadest organic reach of any of the channels right now,” Landrum said. “If you’re very successful on TikTok, that’s probably most of what you’re focusing on because [as] a small business, you can’t afford to attack marketing on a bunch of different fronts at the same time.”
Baedri Nichole, a bakery owner from Columbus, Ohio said, “I can tell you without question that the next generation of Black business owners are going to come from the TikTok platform…. If you ban TikTok, then you put at risk putting a cap on the ambitions of a whole generation of wealth creators.”
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