US moves forward plan to ban TikTok as AOC joins protests supporting app
Lawmakers have said they’re moving forward with plans for a national ban on TikTok, as users including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez take to the app to protest.
The snowballing effort to take action against TikTok comes after company chief Shou Zi Chew appeared before a US House committee for five hours on Thursday, where lawmakers from both parties grilled him about national security and other concerns involving the app.
Following the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez made her first ever TikTok to speak out against a potential ban – highlighting the unprecedented nature of such an action. Meanwhile, thousands of video edits flooded the app making fun of moments in the hearing. Young users have skewered politicians as out of touch for questions about TikTok’s technology. “This is the most boomer thing I have ever seen,” one caption reads on a video of a member of Congress accusing TikTok of tracking users’ pupil dilation.
The grassroots social media effort highlights a tension between the app’s growing popularity and lawmakers’ push to ban it. TikTok now has more than 150 million users in the US.
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Despite the protests, authorities appear set on pushing ahead with restricting the platform. On Sunday, Kevin McCarthy, the US House of Representatives speaker, said lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security concerns about TikTok, alleging China’s government has had access to the app’s user data.
In the United States, there are growing calls to ban TikTok, owned by China-based company ByteDance, or to
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