Struggling to justify its existence in the US, TikTok is pulling out all the stops this week in Washington, DC to prove the government shouldn’t be banning the app.
Dozens of TikTok creators and influencers will gather on Capitol Hill Wednesday night to talk about how central the app is to their livelihoods and communities. Creators of popular accounts such as “Back in the Kitchen with Bae”, “Sparks of Joy” and “Chem Teacher Phil” are expected to perform at the event, which will be organized by the Chinese-owned company.
“Legislators in Washington who are debating TikTok should hear firsthand from people whose lives would be directly affected by their decisions,” said TikTok spokesman Jamal Brown.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Trade Committee on Thursday, discussing the company’s privacy practices, the app’s impact on children and its relationship with the Chinese government.
The heat on TikTok is increasing and with it the spending on lobbyists
Bringing creators to the Capitol is part of TikTok’s larger lobbying effort in the country.
The app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and has come under attack from the US government in recent months.
Lawmakers from both parties have said they are concerned the app will share Americans’ data with its Chinese owners. Congress is reviewing its data and privacy practices, and several bills have been introduced to regulate the social media company.
The FBI and Justice Department are reportedly investigating whether the app spied on US citizens, including journalists, according to Forbes.
In addition, President Joe Biden is considering a possible suspension of the app. His government has urged TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the app or face a nationwide ban. Former President Donald Trump also threatened to ban the app in 2020.
As the heat on TikTok has increased rapidly in recent years, TikTok’s spending on lobbying has also increased.
In 2022, more than $5.3 million was spent sending lobbyists to make their case, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks lobbying spending.
That was more than 10 times what it spent in 2019, putting it in the same league as Washington giants Facebook and Google.
“In 2019, they essentially spent pennies on lobbying activities. And now they’ve spent the fourth-highest amount of any tech company on lobbying conventions,” said Sarah Bryner, director of research at Open Secrets.
“It’s just monumental.”
Tech companies trying to influence lawmakers tend to go from doing nothing to hiring big names, like former congressmen who have many connections, Bryner said.
For TikTok, that meant bringing in two former Republican senators — Trent Lott of Mississippi and John Breaux, Sr. of Louisiana — and 40 other lobbyists last year, according to Open Secrets.
“These kinds of new appetizers [like TikTok] often they like to skip the introductory phase and jump straight to the big guns, which is why we’re seeing these really explosive increases in spending,” Bryner said.
Search for a living and personal connections in the app
Meanwhile, many US developers say they don’t want the app to go away.
Ashley Capps, who has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok, said she believes lawmakers should be able to work with the company to create adequate protections for users.
Capps lives in Florida and has been on TikTok since 2019. She said her livelihood now depends on the app because it brings new customers to her business. She creates videos that she says can help people “make the world a better place” — everything from gardening to documenting research to staying safe online.
But it has also helped her to connect with others outside of business.
“TikTok saved my life in a way… It helped me to know I’m not alone,” Capps said. “And I’ve learned more about life and other people’s lives on TikTok over the last few years than I’ve ever learned anywhere else.”
She has urged her followers to write letters to all members of the House’s Energy and Trade Committees, calling for keeping TikTok’s lights on.
And on Thursday, Capps will be watching the hearing closely.
“I’m going to be live streaming it on my TikTok, funnily enough,” she said.
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