FILE - Devotees of TikTok, Mona Swain, center, and her sister, Rachel Swain, right, both of Atlanta, pose with a sign at the Capitol in Washington, March 13, 2024. TikTok's extensive lobbying campaign is the latest tech industry push since the House passed legislation that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users to call their representatives. – The young voices in the messages left for North Carolina Sen.
While more aggressive than most, TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest attempt by the tech industry to head off any new legislation — and it's a fight the industry usually wins. For years Congress hasthat would protect users’ privacy, protect children from online threats, make companies more liable for their content and put loose guardrails around artificial intelligence, among other things.
But it’s already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesn’t access private data from the app’s 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms. Vice President Kamala Harris, in a television interview that aired Sunday, acknowledged the popularity of the app and that it has become an income stream for many people. She said the administration does not intend to ban TikTok but instead deal with its ownership. “We understand its purpose and its utility and the enjoyment that it gives a lot of folks,” Harris told ABC's ”This Week."
Hoping to persuade their colleagues to support the bill, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have called for intelligence agencies to declassify information about TikTok and China’s ownership that has been provided to senators in classified briefings.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who has worked with Schumer on the artificial intelligence effort, says he thinks the Senate can eventually pass a TikTok bill, even if it's a different version. He says the classified briefings “convinced the vast majority of members” that they have to address the collection of data from the app and TikTok's ability to push out misinformation to users.