Children threaten suicide, assassinations to Congress over bill that could ban TikTok in US

In response to a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that would give TikTok's parent company ByteDance an ultimatum potentially resulting in the app's ban from the United States, executives fired out notifications to users urging them to "speak out."

The bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher and his Democratic counterpart Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, would force ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face having the social media platform restricted from being accessed in the country. The US House Energy and Commerce committee voted Thursday afternoon to approve the legislation in a 50-0 vote, according to Reuters.

"Stop a TikTok shutdown," the notification reads. "Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok. Speak up now–before the government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression."

TikTok claimed that, if lawmakers went ahead and banned the app, the situation would "damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists and audience."

"Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO," it adds.

The notification goes on to prompt users to enter their zip code in order to be provided with the name and phone number of their local representative.
 

According to Spectator reporter Matthew Foldi, users of the platform, including children, have threatened suicide and assassination in phone calls to their local representatives.

The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act seeks to "protect Americans by preventing foreign adversaries, such as China, from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through online applications like TikTok."

It explicitly labels ByteDance and TikTok as "foreign adversary controlled application[s]" due to their ties to the Chinese Community Party.
 

In a statement to The Hill, TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek argued that the bill amounted to "an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it."

"This legislation," he claimed, "will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs."

The bill is set to be looked at by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday afternoon.