US House vote on TikTok ban suggests broader prism than just pro- or anti-China
- The latest effort to restrict the popular video-sharing app faces its next battle in the Senate, where support appears mixed and a vote has not been scheduled
- ‘Just because Congress is falling all over itself for members to demonstrate how hawkish they are on China, that doesn’t mean compromising the First Amendment’
When TikTokers flooded US congressional offices with calls urging their representatives to vote against banning their beloved app, many were met with a mixture of indifference and polite clarifications that Congress was only trying to force a sale, not impose a ban.
But behind the scenes, much of Capitol Hill was furious. What TikTok said was “straight-up disinformation”, said a congressional staffer.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin and chair of the House select committee on China, framed TikTok’s actions as “a campaign to manipulate and mobilise American citizens on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party”. Before the vote on the House floor – scheduled a mere eight days later – Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, accused the company of forcing teenagers to call their representatives.
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Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide
The lawmakers’ depiction of a top-down influence campaign by TikTok infuriated the platform’s users, many of whom made videos speaking about the positive impact the app has had on their education, mental health, community building and small-business ventures.
“I just called them of my own accord,” small-business owner Ben Stanley said angrily in a video, noting that he never even saw the notification. Stanley shared a recording of his call to his congresswoman, Mary Miller of Illinois, in which he vowed to spend the next two weeks actively campaigning against her and her party if she voted for the bill.