Hours after the Home passed a bill that might ban TikTok in the US, Shou Chew, the corporate’s CEO urged customers to “shield your constitutional rights.” Chew additionally implied that TikTok would mount a authorized problem if the invoice is handed into regulation.
“We won’t cease preventing and advocating for you,” Chew stated in a video posted to X. “We are going to proceed to do all we will together with exercising our authorized rights to guard this wonderful platform that we’ve got constructed with you.” He additionally requested TikTok customers within the US to share their tales with pals, households, and senators. “This laws, if handed into regulation, will result in a ban of TikTok in the US,” Chew stated. “Even the invoice’s sponsors admit that’s their objective.”
The invoice, often known as the “Defending Individuals from International Adversary Managed Functions Act” handed the Home on Wednesday with bipartisan help simply days after it was launched. Ought to the invoice cross into regulation, it might drive TikTok’s guardian firm ByteDance, a Chinese language company, to promote TikTok to a US firm inside six months, or be banned from US app shops and hosting companies. TikTok has challenged state-level bans up to now. Final yr, TikTok sued Montana, which banned the app within the state. A federal decide temporarily blocked that ban in November earlier than it went into impact.
Final week, TikTok sent push notifications to the app’s greater than 170 million customers within the US urging them to name their representatives in regards to the potential ban. “Communicate up now — earlier than your authorities strips 170 million Individuals of their Constitutional proper to free expression,” the notification stated. The wave of notifications reportedly led to Home staffers being inundated with calls from excessive schoolers asking what a Congressman is. Lawmakers criticized the corporate they perceived as attempting to “intrude” with the legislative course of.
In his enchantment, Chew stated that banning TikTok would give “extra energy to a handful of different social media corporations.” Former President Donald Trump, who as soon as tried to drive ByteDance to promote TikTok within the US, lately expressed the same sentiment, claiming that banning TikTok would strengthen Meta whose platform, Reels, competes with TikTok straight. Chew additionally added that taking TikTok away would additionally damage a whole bunch of 1000’s of American jobs, creators, and small companies.
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