Democratic lawmakers join TikTok creators at US Capitol to protest banning the app

Members of Congress and the White House are concerned about data privacy issues and have threatened to ban the short-form video app TikTok in the U.S. To protest this possibility, TikTok creators and some Democratic lawmakers gathered outside the Capitol on Wednesday evening.

Many creators held signs stating, “My _ thrives on TikTok,” with the blank space filled in with their choice of noun, showing that the app is a significant contributor to their exposure.

The possibility of banning TikTok surfaced last week when the Biden administration reportedly told Chinese internet company ByteDance, which created TikTok, to sell its shares in the app or risk losing the entire U.S. market. Some lawmakers expressed concerns about Chinese government access to U.S. data long before Biden’s ultimatum.

Months ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that TikTok should be banned because it allows the Chinese Communist party access to all private data on any device in America connected to TikTok, presenting a national security threat.

TikTokers are now demonstrating in support of the app, and some Democratic representatives have joined them on the Capitol Hill. Some demonstrators say that threats to ban the app are due to xenophobia or efforts to maintain the U.S. public image on privacy issues related to China. Nonetheless, most TikTok creators that staged the demonstration in front of the Capitol agree that banning the app will rob them of the community they’ve built.

“For me as a creator and also someone who’s seen the power of the app, when I think of TikTok, I think of community, I think of support,” said TikToker Tony Weaver Jr. “And I think that’s something that would be terrible to lose.”