| Friend,
Late last week, a House committee made the rare move of unanimously advancing a bill following a closed-door hearing, then fast-tracking it for a full vote that will happen as soon as this Wednesday. The bipartisan bill would ban TikTok. It barely hides its intentions — and attempts to avoid First Amendment scrutiny — behind requirements for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its holdings. But the outcome is plain to see: TikTok would be unavailable in the United States.1
TikTok has approximately 170 million users in this country alone. A majority of our nation’s population, especially younger generations and people of color, use TikTok to organize, communicate, educate and entertain.
TikTok isn't perfect, but banning it is the wrong solution. Like all popular platforms, TikTok collects too much data on its users. But unilaterally dismantling spaces for free expression does little to meaningfully protect our privacy or address the national security concerns the bill’s sponsors have raised.
As this legislation moved forward on Capitol Hill, TikTok urged its users to call their representatives to advocate for the app’s continued availability.2 We were inspired to see people of all ages engaging with the legislative process — but deeply disappointed to see reports that congressional offices dismissed these passionate outreaches from their constituents.3
Will you add your name to Free Press Action's petition telling lawmakers to heed the will of their constituents and reject a ban on TikTok?
At any given time, dozens of corporations are tracking us, analyzing our behaviors and profiting off of our private information. An entire industry is dedicated to harvesting our sensitive data, selling it and targeting us with it. It’s ridiculous for Congress to single out one app while failing to act on this huge problem that’s prevalent across all social media.
Here’s what we need lawmakers to do instead: Pass a federal privacy law that would limit how all companies collect, store, analyze and sell our personal data. In the coming weeks, we’ll continue pushing Congress to champion real federal privacy protections. For now, join us in demanding that lawmakers protect free expression online and reject the TikTok ban. Thanks for all that you do,
Jenna and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
1. “U.S. House to Vote Next Week on TikTok Crackdown Bill,” Reuters, March 7, 2024 2. “Wait, Is America Actually Banning TikTok Now?” CNN, March 8, 2024 3. “TikTok Tries a Radical New Tactic Against Congress,” Politico, March 7, 2024  |
