TikTok users flood Congress with calls amid potential House ban

The platform alerted its US users, encouraging them to protest a bill that would force its parent company to sell the app or risk being banned

Lawmakers’ offices are said to have received a surge of calls from TikTok users opposing a bill that would require the platform’s parent company to sell off the app or risk a ban in the US.

The bill, supported by over a dozen representatives, was unanimously approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, with a vote of 50 to 0. In response, TikTok sent notifications to many of its approximately 170 million US users, urging them to contact Congress in opposition. These notifications included a feature to help users find their representative’s contact information by entering their zip code.

Congressional staffers informed the Washington Post that this initiative resulted in a flood of calls from TikTok users, with some offices receiving up to 20 calls per minute, prompting them to temporarily close their phone lines. Taylor Hulsey, a communications director for Florida congressman Vern Buchanan, tweeted that staffers were “receiving numerous calls from high schoolers inquiring about what a Congressman is.”

The bill would require ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest within 165 days or face a ban from US app stores like the Apple app store and Google Play store. Congress members supporting the bill have criticized TikTok’s response, with Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois calling it a “massive propaganda campaign” that misrepresents the legislation as a complete ban. Krishnamoorthi and others argue that TikTok could avoid a ban if its Chinese parent company relinquishes ownership.

Michael Hughes, a spokesperson for TikTok, rejected lawmakers’ portrayal of the bill, stating that its “preordained outcome is a total ban of TikTok in the United States.”

“This bill is an attempt by the government to deprive 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression,” he stated. “It will harm millions of businesses, deprive artists of an audience, and ruin the livelihoods of numerous creators nationwide.”

The bill represents the latest move by US lawmakers in a political battle against the platform, citing concerns that ByteDance, headquartered in China, might gather sensitive user data and censor content contrary to the Chinese Communist Party’s wishes.

TikTok has consistently asserted that ByteDance is 60% owned by international investors and is not subject to influence from the Chinese government. The push to ban TikTok intensified throughout 2022 and early 2023, resulting in several state bans and a congressional hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, but eventually slowed down.

The bill is set to undergo a full House vote, potentially as early as next week, as indicated by House majority leader Steve Scalise. Nonetheless, its prospects for approval in both the House and Senate are uncertain.

The Biden administration has endorsed the bill, with a White House national security council spokesperson describing it as “an important and welcome step,” and stating that the administration would collaborate with Congress “to further bolster this legislation and ensure its strong legal foundation.”