As TikTok bill steams forward, online influencers put on their lobbying hats to visit Washington

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers, meet your newest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok.

The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-track bill that would force TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers began a two-day advocacy event in support of TikTok, which arranged their travel ahead of the House of Representatives’ vote on the legislation on Wednesday.

But unlike a similar lobbying event the company hosted last March as talk of a TikTok ban reached fever pitch, this year’s efforts seemed more rushed as the company moves to counter the legislation, which was moving quickly on Capitol Hill .

“If they ban it, I don’t know what it will do to the company,” Summer Lucille, a TikTok content creator with 1.4 million followers who is visiting Washington this week, said in an interview organized by the platform. “It will be devastating.”

In an unusual show of bipartisanship, a House panel unanimously approved the measure last week. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation if lawmakers pass it. But it’s unclear what will happen in the Senate, where several bills aimed at banning TikTok have stalled.

The legislation faces other obstacles. Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, who controls both the House and Senate Republicans, has opposed the bill, saying it would empower Meta-owned Facebook, which he said continues to condemn over his 2020 election loss. The bill also faces resistance from some progressive lawmakers in the House of Representatives and from civil liberties groups who say it violates the First Amendment.

TikTok could be banned if ByteDance, its parent company, does not sell its shares in the platform and other applications it owns within six months of the bill taking effect.

The battle for the platform comes as U.S.-China relations have shifted toward that of strategic rivalry, especially in areas such as advanced technologies and data security, which are considered essential to each country’s economic strength and national security. The shift, which began during the Trump years and has continued under Biden, has imposed restrictions on the export of advanced technologies and the outflow of US money to China, as well as on access to the US market for certain Chinese companies.

The Biden administration has also cited human rights concerns by blacklisting a number of Chinese companies accused of supporting the state surveillance campaign against ethnic minorities.

TikTok has no shortage of lobbyists. Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has a strong lobbying apparatus in Washington, including dozens of lobbyists from well-known consulting and law firms, as well as influential insiders such as former members of Congress and ex-aides of powerful lawmakers, the newspaper said. Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will also be in Washington this week and plans to meet with lawmakers, according to a company spokesperson who said Chew’s visit was previously scheduled.

But influencers, who have large social media followings and can share personal stories of how the platform has boosted their business – or simply given them a voice – may still be one of the most powerful tools the company has in its arsenal .

A TikTok spokesperson said dozens of influencers will attend the two-day event, including some who came last year. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about how many new people would attend this year’s lobbying blitz. The company informs them prior to meetings with their representatives and interviews with the media.

Lucille runs a plus-size boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she says sales have increased significantly thanks to her TikTok page. The 34-year-old started creating TikTok content focused on plus-size fashion in March 2022, more than a decade after she started her business. She quickly amassed thousands of followers after posting a nine-second video about her boutique.

Due to her popularity on the platform, her company has more online fame and customers, some of whom come from as far away as Europe. She says she also routinely hears from followers who find support through her content about fashion and self-confidence.

JT Laybourne, an influencer who also came to Washington, said he joined TikTok in early 2019 after receiving some negative reactions to videos he posted on Instagram while singing in the car with his children.

Laybourne, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, said he was drawn to the short video platform because it was easy to create videos that included music. Like Lucille, he quickly got to grips with the app. He says he has also received more support from TikTok users, who responded positively to the content he produced about love and positivity.

Laybourne says the community he built on the platform rallied around his family when he had to undergo heart surgery in 2020. After the surgery, he said he used the platform to raise $1 million for the American Heart Association in less than two years. His family now runs a clothing company that gets most of its traffic from TikTok.

“I will fight tooth and nail for this app,” he said.

But whether the opposition the company is building through lobbyists or influencers will be enough to derail the bill remains to be seen. On Tuesday, House lawmakers received a briefing on the national security concerns surrounding TikTok from the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence officials.

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AP journalist Didi Tang contributed to this report.