The USA has experienced a great moment of democracy. On Thursday, thousands of citizens called their MPs and demanded that the right to freedom of expression be protected. What more could politicians want than people who actively participate in the political process?
Quite obvious: her calm. This is primarily due to the trigger for the mass calls. Tiktok had with one full-screen notice in his app warned of an impending ban in the US: “Let Congress know what Tiktok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”
This refers to Tiktok a bill, which aims to force Tiktok’s Chinese owner Bytedance to sell the app. Otherwise, Tiktok will be banned from the USA because it poses a threat to national security. The Chinese government could force Bytedance to use Tiktok for espionage purposes or to exert subtle influence on public opinion.
And the Tiktok ban greets you every day
For Tiktok, it’s an all-too-familiar situation. The discussion about a ban has been raging for years. Last spring, the allegations culminated in a hostile hearing before the US Congress, and several universities banned the app. Some US states banned employees from using Tiktok on their work cell phones, and the EU Commission and Parliament followed suit. The topic then largely disappeared from public view for a year.
What didn’t seem to disappear: the rejection that many US politicians have towards Tiktok. In rare unity, Democrats and Republicans are pushing forward the current bill. All 50 members of the Energy and Commerce Committee voted in favor of the bill on Thursday.
The orchestrated call campaign showed Tiktok’s manipulative potential, said Republican committee chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. “It is so bad”, quoted Politico anonymous Republican employees. “It’s teenagers and old people who say they spend their whole day on the app and we can’t take it away from them.” A caller is said to have threatened: “If you ban Tiktok, I’ll kill myself.”
Trump, of all people, rejects a ban
Tiktok itself defends itself with proven arguments. It is an independent company, with headquarters in the USA and Singapore. Concerns about Chinese influence are greatly exaggerated; the parent company Bytedance has nothing to do with the Communist Party. In recent years, investments have been made in security and transparency to better protect data from users in the USA and the EU.
That doesn’t seem to impress either Democrats or Republicans. The entire House of Representatives is scheduled to vote next week. The bill would then have to pass the Senate and be signed by the President. Joe Biden’s approval “still needs some work,” said a government spokeswomanwe are working with the Republicans on this.
Tiktok seems to be able to count on at least one unexpected ally. Donald Trump, of all people, who railed loudly against Tiktok during his time in office, rejects the bill. “If you kick out Tiktok, Facebook and Sugar Jewelry will double their business” wrote the designated Republican presidential candidate on his Truth Social platform. His resentment against Facebook’s parent company Meta, which had temporarily blocked Trump, still seems to run deep.