TikTok prompts US users to speak out against the ban to Congress

Recently, in the face of the new "ban" initiated by the US Congress, TikTok pushed notifications to users through its application, stating that this would "deprive 170 million Americans of their constitutional freedom of speech", "harm millions of businesses, destroy countless creators' livelihoods across the country, and deprive artists of their audiences", and called on users to speak out and inform the Congress to vote against it.

It is reported that the new ban bill of TikTok was proposed by the House of Representatives and was unanimously passed by the corresponding committee of the House of Representatives on March 7. It will enter the House of Representatives voting process next week and then be voted on by the Senate. If the two houses reach an agreement, the bill will be submitted to the White House for the President's signature to take effect.

The bill is named "Protecting Our National Security from Foreign Control Act of 2022", which requires TikTok to be divested from ByteDance within 180 days, or face being disabled. The bill also requires that foreign entities must not own more than a 20% stake in the company.

TikTok stated that the proposed legislation would harm freedom of speech and small businesses that rely on the application, and prompted users to express their opposition to the ban to Congress through a full-screen pop-up window in the application.

According to foreign media reports, the congressional offices are reportedly overwhelmed by the calls from TikTok users.