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TikTok creators and their followers want their concerns taken seriously — and plan to push back
The beak that couldban TikToktook one step closer to becoming a law on Wednesday . After being precede just last week , the account was fast - tracked through the House of Representatives and will now head to the Senate .
V Spehar , the TikTok creator behindUnderTheDeskNews , has been a staunch critic of efforts to ban TikTok ; they eventraveled to Capitol Hillon TikTok ’s behalf last year when CEO Shou Zi Chewtestifiedbefore Congress .
“ citizenry are stimulate to fight this , and are smart , and do n’t appreciate being belittle , ” Spehar enjoin TechCrunch . “ It ’s really lamentable to know that half of America is being recount to shut up by our elected officials . ”
keeptiktok
♬ original phone – UnderTheDeskNews
If it becomes natural law , the Federal Reserve note would impel ByteDance , TikTok ’s Formosan parent fellowship , to sell the app . But China has state in the past that it would oppose a sale ( and can , per the government’sexport rule , which commute in 2020 ) . If ByteDance does n’t sell TikTok , it would become illegal for app stores to give out the app , which over 170 million Americans apply .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
TikTok itself has rallied its exploiter to call their Congresspeople and express theiroppositionto the legislation . Some lawgiver ’ offices reported that they were beingoverloadedwith calls from furious TikTok user , a position that was parody by previous dark hostStephen Colbert . Spehar told TechCrunch that they have received 12 of messages from TikTok users who were frustrated with Colbert ’s enactment of TikTok users as “ grown - ass millennials who still describe themselves by their Hogwarts sign . ”
For anyone who relies on the political platform as an income source , the new threat of a TikTok ban is no laugh subject . And the pace at which Congress is moving to limit TikTok ’s scope is catching some creators off safety machine .
“ This fourth dimension around is just snuff it so much quicker within the legislative process,”Jules Terpak , a Gen Z tech reviewer on TikTok , told TechCrunch . “ by from TikTok sending out very serious notifications to a subset of exploiter about what ’s going on , the cultural timing just feels more prominent — likely because Biden instantly said he ’ll sign it into law and citizenry have gotten so comfortable with TikTok in their day-to-day life . ”
Since the bill passed in the House , TikTokers have been tease their followers to take the bill more seriously . Noah Glenn Carter , a Almighty with 8.7 million followers , posted avideourging his followers to call their senator . Another creator , @cancelthisclothingco , posted a seven - instant video to their 1.4 million following with hashtags like # tiananmensquare and # uyghur to “ speedrun everything defective about China that China does n’t want anyone to cognize . ”
“ I have a huge chase , I can just make a video that test exactly what they ’re trying to say we ca n’t see , ” @cancelthisclothingco say . The video has get 21,000 likes in three hour .
The tik tok ban go through and has one more stone’s throw before it ’s official#foryou#tiktok#keeptiktok
♬ Stargazing ( Slowed + Reverb ) – Marcelo De Carvalho
TikTok ’s CEO has emphasized that the company is not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ) , and that user are free to mail content critical of China without any interference . But lawgiver like Senators Tom Cotton ( R - AK ) haverepeatedlytried to push a tale touch base TikTok to the CCP in Congress , pressing Chew on his place of origin , political party and citizenship ( “ I ’m Singaporean , ” Chew react several clock time ) .
Though there is no evidence of the CCP sleuth on TikTok , there has been grounds of ByteDanceaccessingTikTok information without mandate . So , lawgiver interest that the Chinese government could use ByteDance to spy on Americans .
Sarah Philips , a subject matter Maker and digital rights organizer at Fight for the Future , indicate that if data point concealment is the substantial proceeds , then Congress should take action againstdata broker , not TikTok .
“ It ’s xenophobic showboating , ” said Philips . “ All conversations about a TikTok ban are essentially that at its core , because those of us who sympathize datum aggregation practices know that because of the want of digital seclusion legislating , our datum is for sale from any manner of other technical school society . ”
Representative David Schweikert ( R - AZ ) raise this point on the House floor Wednesday , before the flier passed with a 352 - 65 voting .
“ The problem with our design here , is it ’s really well substance , but it does n’t get at the morphologic problem , ” he said . “ What makes them not take the data , trade it to a information broker , and it gets wash and still ends up in a bad actor ’s hired hand ? ”
The U.S government has been try out to wedge ByteDance to sell TikTok since 2020 , when former President Donald Trump first anticipate for a forbiddance unless TikTok found a new possessor ( now , Trump defend a ban , because he says it would make Meta more powerful ) . But the flurry of bread and butter for the new bill and the speed with which it proceed through the House mean that TikTok ’s future is short much less certain .
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1767943780232004092
Philips has been frustrated by condescending mental attitude toward TikTokers . She point toseveralpostsonX , which have made merriment of hoi polloi on TikTok for using euphemism like “ seggs ” and “ unalive ” to voyage around mental object filters .
“ I think there ’s a lot of people who , if I present to them , ‘ should the government have control over what engineering you ’re able to use ? ’ , they would likely not agree with that , ” Philips said . “ But they are kind of joining this bandwagon against TikTok because they think the content is cringe . ”
On platforms like X , the mind of banning TikTok has become amemein itself . Many TikTokers likewise ca n’t understand why Congress would move so quickly and expeditiously to craft new legislation to restrict TikTok , of all things .
“ The most two-party thing that is bump in Congress right now is endlessly fund the military , and censor an app that they use to relate with other mass , ” Philips severalize TechCrunch . “ I mean , the United States President is on TikTok . ”
Philips thinks that lawmakers ’ failure to take TikTok users ’ concerns seriously could have major ramifications for the upcoming election cycle . “ There are any number of things that Congress could be focusing on in good order now , and this seems to be mostly political dramatics , ” Philips pronounce . “ I do n’t bang how that would n’t affect the election . ”
Though Terpak has a following of more than 330,000 mass on TikTok , she lead a more neutral approach shot to the app ’s possible ban .
“ A lot of people on TikTok are pushing that the authorities has other thing to concern about , but I think that ’s a faulty POV considering how powerful engineering , particularly social medium ’s theatrical role in our lifespan is , and how that will only remain to become more true in the coming year , ” Terpak order . “ I think a raft of people battle with being able to apprize but also critique a platform . ”
The bill that could cast out TikTok head in the House
