FILE - The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. The ad focuses on girls' and women's equality, with lines such as "If girls and women's sports matter, and you want your daughter to have the same opportunity you had, stand up."
We spoke with the founder and CEO of XX-XY, Jennifer Sey who said she was shocked by TikTok's ban. She said they just started running ads on TikTok a few days before the removal and the company had run into no issues thus far with other social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook. "I think it’s really compassionate towards women and girls. And being compassionate towards women and girls is not being anti-trans and somehow that’s how it’s being positioned in the world today," said Sey.TikTok reportedly said the ad violated their community guidelines, but weren’t specific as to which guidelines were violated. We reached out to TikTok and did not hear back in time for this publication.
The suspension of the XX-XY's account only appears to have amplified the message as conservative social media accounts re-share the ad over and over. "It kind of caught fire," observed Sey. "If the intention was to silence us that has not worked at all. I think the ad just in the last couple of days has gone completely viral and has well over 3 million views at this point. Certainly not something we could have afforded with an ad buy. We’re anything but silenced and we won’t give up because we think the message is too important.