As ByteDance’s TikTok faces an imminent ban in the United States, the short-form video app has launched a new $2.1 million ad campaign. The House bill isn’t an outright ban. It requires the platform’s parent company ByteDance to divest the app from its holdings within six months of the bill being signed into law.
If ByteDance fails to abide, TikTok will not be available for download on the Apple App store and Google Play store. A spokesperson for TikTok said the bill was hurried. “This bill was rushed through the House exactly because its authors know it would ultimately result in a ban. Many of the bill’s biggest cheerleaders in the House have publicly described this legislation as a ‘ban’ bill.”
In an official statement, TikTok said the US government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. “This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”
Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the panel’s chair, said they will make the first step in creating long-overdue laws to protect Americans from the threat posed by apps controlled by US’s adversaries and to send a very strong message that the United States will always stand up for our values and freedom.
The spokesperson highlighted their ads are a way to show how the federal government could hurt small businesses if the bill passes the Senate. “We think the public at large should know that the government is attempting to trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans and devastate 7 million small businesses nationwide.”
As part of the ad campaign, a TikTok creator urges the public to think about the five million small business owners who rely on the platform to provide for their families. Another user says – “TikTok has made me a better teacher, it’s helped me to connect with people far beyond my classroom.” And yet another user says – “The village is always there for the moms on TikTok.”
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