By: Christine Queally
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/author/christine-queally
Members of Congress and the White House have spoken out about data privacy concerns related to the short-form video app TikTok, even threatening an all-out ban of the platform in the U.S. last week. In response, TikTok creators and several Democratic lawmakers gathered outside the Capitol on Wednesday evening to protest that possibility.
Many held signs with the words, “My _ thrives on TikTok,” with the blank space filled in with their choice of noun, alluding to the fact that the app is a major source of exposure for many creators.
The possibility of a ban on TikTok first emerged last week when the Biden administration reportedly told Chinese internet company ByteDance, which created TikTok, to sell its shares in the app or face losing the entire U.S. market.
>>Months ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said, “I want to ban TikTok for a very simple reason. They allow the Chinese Communist party to gain access to all of the private data on any device in America that’s using TikTok. That’s our kids, that’s phones connected to our kids’ phones, and that’s a national security threat.”
Now, TikTokers are mobilizing in support of the app, and they were joined by a few Democratic representatives outside of the Capitol.
>>“What happens is, a certain party, usually Republicans, whip something like this into hysteria, and we move way too rapidly in the wrong direction,” a TikTok spokesperson at the demonstration said.
Most of the TikTok creators that staged the demonstration in front of the Capitol agreed on one thing: banning the app would rob them of the community they’ve built.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/videos/-democrats-creators-protest-tiktok-ban-us-capitol