TikTok is stepping up a PR campaign to head off the possibility of a nationwide ban by US President Joe Biden’s administration, and it’s bringing in some unconventional advocates to help: online influencers.
Dozens of TikTok creators, some with millions of followers on the video-sharing app, descended on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby for the platform, a day before lawmakers question the company’s chief executive over concerns about the User data crash. the hands of the Chinese government.
Shou Zi Chew plans to tell the US Congress on Thursday that TikTok, which was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs and has 150 million US users, is committed to user safety, data protection and security, as well as keeping the platform. free from chinese government influence.
He will also answer questions from US lawmakers concerned about the social media platform’s effects on its young user base.
At the heart of TikTok’s problem is a Chinese national intelligence law that would force Chinese companies to hand over data to the government for any purpose it deems related to national security. There are also concerns that Beijing may try to push pro-China narratives or misinformation through the platform.
At a media event hosted by TikTok on Wednesday, some content creators acknowledged that data security concerns are legitimate, but noted the precautions the company is taking. This includes a $1.5 billion plan, dubbed Project Texas, to route all US data to home servers owned and maintained by software giant Oracle.
TikTok has been trying to sell that proposal to the Biden administration, but skeptics have argued that it doesn’t go far enough. The administration is reportedly demanding that the company’s Chinese owners sell their stakes or face a nationwide ban.
Janette Ok, a fashion and beauty influencer on TikTok, said in an interview Wednesday that TikTok invited her to the lobbying event a few weeks ago and paid for her trip to Washington, DC.
He’s been able to make a full-time career off his videos, earning revenue from partnerships with brands looking to capture the attention of his 1.7 million followers. He said that his popularity on TikTok has also allowed him other opportunities, such as TV acting roles and commercials.
“I don’t know a lot about politics, but I know a lot about fashion and I know a lot about people,” Ok said. “And just being here and sharing my story is what TikTok has invited me to do.”
Construction of tensions
Tensions around TikTok have been building on Capitol Hill, reaching a boiling point late last year when a proposal to ban the app on government phones passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Biden. .
Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing a bill that would give Biden the power to ban the app.
Other bills, some bipartisan, have also been introduced, including a measure that would avoid challenges the administration would face in court if it moves forward with sanctions against the social media company.
The effort to target TikTok is part of a broader, tougher approach Congress has taken in recent months as China’s relationship with two US adversaries, Russia and Iran, has come under fire. . A recent spy balloon incident forced even some wary congressional Democrats to join opposition Republicans.
There is now strong bipartisan concern in Washington, DC that Beijing will use legal and regulatory power to seize American user data or use TikTok to push favorable narratives or misinformation.
But the company has also won the support of at least three progressive lawmakers who say they oppose banning the platform. At a Wednesday press conference with insiders, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., characterized the national security concerns that have been raised as xenophobic hysteria over TikTok’s Chinese origins.
He said that if Congress wants to have an “honest” conversation about data collection, it should focus on a national privacy law that includes all social media companies, not just TikTok.
“Usually when there is a national security issue, they do a bipartisan briefing in Congress on that particular issue,” Bowman said. “We have not received a bipartisan report from Congress on the national security risk of TikTok.”
lobbying blitz
TikTok’s response to political pressure can be seen all over the nation’s Capitol, with the company placing banners at area airports and metro stations that include promises to protect user data and privacy, as well as create a safe platform for its young users.
Last year, the company spent more than $5.3 million sending lobbyists to Capitol Hill to present their case, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks lobbying spending.
On Thursday, Chew, a 40-year-old Singaporean who was appointed chief executive in 2021, will stick to a familiar script as he urges officials not to seek an outright ban on TikTok or for the company to be sold to new owners. .
TikTok’s efforts to ensure the security of its users’ data go “beyond” what any of its rivals are doing, according to Chew’s prepared remarks posted ahead of his appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. of US Representatives
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent for China or any other country,” Chew will say.
It will distance TikTok from its Chinese roots and deny the “inaccurate” belief that TikTok’s corporate structure makes it “beholden to the Chinese government.” ByteDance has become a privately owned “global company,” Chew will say, with 60 percent owned by large institutional investors, 20 percent owned by the Chinese entrepreneurs who founded it, and the rest by employees.
It is “emphatically false” for TikTok to send data about its American users to Beijing, it will say.
“TikTok has never shared or received a request to share US user data with the Chinese government,” Chew will say. “Nor would TikTok honor such a request if it were ever made.”
A ban on TikTok, according to comments posted by Chew, would hurt the US economy and small American businesses that use the app to sell their wares, while reducing competition in an “increasingly concentrated market.”
Chew will add that a sale “would not place new restrictions on data flows or access.”
