TikTok CEO Shou Chew is appealing to users of the video-sharing platform to oppose legislation that would force its Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a US ban.
Hours after the US House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill by a wide margin, 352 to 65, Shou responded with a video on TikTok urging users to “make your voices heard.”
The rallying cry follows an earlier TikTok action that prompted users to input their ZIP code in order to identify and contact their representatives in Congress. Several users recorded their calls and posted them to their profiles.
“I encourage you to keep sharing your stories. Share them with your friends, share them with your family, share them with your senators. Protect your constitutional rights,” he said.
Shou accused TikTok’s opponents of spreading “misinformation” and said the company has invested in improving data security and keeping the platform “free from outside manipulation.”
The bill now heads to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future, and Shou also presented his argument in terms that lawmakers are typically more concerned with: Big Tech, small business, and jobs.
“This bill gives more power to a handful of other social media companies,” he said. “It will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses. It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk.”
President Joe Biden has pledged to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
While technically not an outright ban, the rule would require any company owned by a “foreign adversary” 180 days to divest or sell to a US-based company to continue operating, a move that neither TikTok nor parent company ByteDance have said they will accept. The Chinese government has also said it opposes a forced sale.
Over the past week, X users have responded in droves with their all-time favorite clips after @destroynectar asked, “What video is the reason they shouldn’t ban TikTok?”
Meanwhile, groups — most notably one led by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — are voicing interest in lining up offers to buy the company in the event that it does sell.
But Shou rejected the idea that the service would survive, and it was his simplest sentence that could spur Gen Z and Alpha constituents to contact their representatives: “It will take away your TikTok.”
