Contact Your Senators and Oppose TikTok Ban Threat in the US
(Reuters) – TikTok showed an ad to some U.S. users on Friday urging them to call their senators and ask them to vote no on a bill that would ban the popular short-form video app unless it is sold from Chinese tech company ByteDance. .
“Tell your senator how important TikTok is to you. Ask them to vote no on banning TikTok,” the ad said, allowing users to enter their zip code to find the senator’s phone number.
“If the Senate votes now, the future of the creativity and communities you love on TikTok could be shut down,” the announcement reads.
On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would give ByteDance about six months to sell the app’s US assets or face a ban. The White House said the Senate should take “swift action,” and President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill.
“We will continue to inform our community about how the ban affects them and what they can do to make their voices heard,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding that the alert will only be sent to users of voting age.
The warning was shown when some people opened the app, and it also appeared when users searched for “TikTok ban”.
TikTok sent a similar alert to users ahead of the House vote, warning that “the government is taking away the community you and millions of other Americans love.”
Lawmakers complained that their offices were flooded with calls from TikTok users opposing the law.
