WASHINGTON — TikTok is ramping up a public relations project to fend off the possibility of a acrossthecountry restriction by the Biden administration, and it’s bringing some non-traditional supporters to aid: online influencers.
Dozens of TikTok developers — some with millions of fans on the video-sharing app — came to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby in favor of the platform, one day priorto legislators are slated to grill the business’s chief executive about issues over user information falling into the hands of the Chinese federalgovernment.
Shou Zi Chew strategies to inform Congress on Thursday that TikTok, which was established by Chinese businessowners, is dedicated to user security, information security and security, and keeping the platform totallyfree from Chinese federalgovernment impact. He will likewise response concerns from U.S. legislators concerned about the social media platform’s results on its young user base.
At the heart of TikTok’s problem is a Chinese nationwide intelligence law that would force Chinese business to fork over information to the federalgovernment for whatever functions it considers to include nationwide security. There’s likewise issue Beijing may attempt to push pro-China stories or falseinformation through the platform.
At a media occasion collaborated by TikTok on Wednesday, some material developers acknowledged that issues about information security are genuine, however pointed to safetymeasures the business is taking, such as a $1.5 billion strategy — called Project Texas — to path all U.S. information to domestic servers owned and preserved by the softwareapplication giant Oracle.
TikTok hasactually been trying to sell that proposition to the Biden administration, however doubters have argued it doesn’t go far enough. The administration is supposedly requiring the business’s Chinese owners sell their stakes or face a acrossthecountry restriction.
Janette Okay, a style and charm influencer on TikTok, stated in an interview Wednesday that TikTok welcomed her to the lobbying occasion a coupleof weeks ago and paid for her journey to Washington. She’s been able to make a full-time profession from her videos, earning earnings from collaborations with brandnames looking to capture the eyes of her 1.7 million fans. She stated her appeal on TikTok has likewise permitted her to have other chances, like TELEVISION and business acting functions.
“I wear’t understand much about politics, however I understand a lot about style, and I understand a lot about individuals,” Ok stated. “And simply to be here and share my story is what TikTok hasactually welcomed me to do.”
Tensions around TikTok haveactually been structure on Capitol Hill, reaching a boiling point late last year when a proposition to restriction the app off of federalgovernment phones passed with bipartisan assistance and was signed into law by President Joe Biden. House Republicans are pressing a costs that would offer Biden the power to restriction the app.
Other costs have likewise been presented — some bipartisan — consistingof a step that would prevent the difficulties t