Lawmakers have been overwhelmed by “thousands” of calls asking them to reconsider a bill banning TikTok in the United States.
The bill passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday with a unanimous bipartisan vote of 50-0.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, many TikTok users have posted a notice urging them to “speak up now before the government strips 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression.” received.
The notice warned that a “ban” on TikTok would harm millions of businesses and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.
Users were asked to enter their zip code and provided a link to call a representative.
A senior Republican aide told FOX Business that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were outraged by these notices and the subsequent calls they received.
Many of them were young teenagers who were pleading with Congress not to “ban TikTok.”
Some people threatened to commit suicide if the bill passed, and others threatened to assassinate members of Congress if they voted in favor of it.
“When TikTok lifts everyone’s spirits, we get thousands of people calling our office. One kid called and said he was going to kill himself. ‘I’m going to do this all day every day. Some people call me and say, “I’m here.” You can’t take this away from me,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said in an interview on FOX Business. “It’s like being called to an AA meeting.”
Roy, one of the bill’s lead co-sponsors, noted that many lawmakers on the fence “saw what was going on and immediately got off the fence.”
“I think everyone is starting to become more aware of the extent to which TikTok is targeting the public. And the fact that we’re daring to challenge it is what’s making them react so strongly. Because they don’t want to go through that and sell. And we’re going to say, ‘Yeah, sure.’
Roy said he and other lawmakers are not upset about the calls themselves, but rather the fact that TikTok, a Chinese-owned organization, is using its technology to influence users on political issues. He declared that he was standing.
“It’s clear how much influence TikTok is having on these people’s lives, to the extent that they’re using their data to target them,” Roy said.
The bill has the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson and could soon move to the full House for a vote.
If passed, the bill would require Beijing-based TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell its platform and other applications within 180 days or those applications would be banned in the United States. It turns out.
The bill would also create a narrow process by which the executive branch could ban access to apps owned by foreign adversaries if they threaten national security.
Lawmakers have argued that the Chinese government could force TikTok on U.S. users. TikTok says it hasn’t done that and wouldn’t do so if asked.
The company argued that the bill was a “total ban” and a violation of free speech rights.
“This bill tramples on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprives 5 million small businesses of the platform they depend on for growth and job creation,” the company said in a statement. “It will become.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee, introduced the bill along with Ranking Member Raja Krishamoothi, which focused on China and said the bill would force a change in TikTok’s ownership. He rejected the idea of a ban. .
He also objected to TikTok encouraging some users to call their representatives and vote against the bill.
“Today is about our bill and threats against members of Congress who are considering it, but tomorrow could be about misinformation and lies about elections, wars, and many other things.” Mr. Gallagher said. “This is why we cannot bet on America’s dominant news platforms being controlled or owned by companies that are beholden to our greatest enemy, the Chinese Communist Party.”
To appease U.S. lawmakers, TikTok vowed to separate U.S. users’ data from ByteDance through an independently operated third-party entity monitored by external monitors.
The company said new user data is now stored on servers managed by software company Oracle.
