Could TikTok really be endangered? Congress’ push for ByteDance to divest its ownership of the social media platform is making that outcome more of a reality than ever before.
Lawmakers are mulling a bill that would give ByteDance six months to divest the U.S. assets of its short-form video app before banning it nationwide due to concerns about Chinese government access to Americans’ data.
Late last week and again on Monday, TikTok sent push notifications to users, spurring them to call their representatives and oppose the bill. It’s an effort that’s effective in politics, but is typically a last resort to oppose legislation, said Mike Spahn, partner at Precision.
So far, it’s fallen short. The House of Representatives voted 352-65 to pass the bill on Wednesday, advancing it to the Senate, where a more contentious debate is expected.
In the meantime, public affairs experts agree that TikTok must do more than rely on its users to call their representatives in Congress.
One option is for the platform to appoint a handful of creators to serve as spokespeople on its behalf. By picking a few key figures, TikTok can align them on talking points, something that’s much harder with hordes of users.
“If you had a creator who…talked about how they made a living [on TikTok]…it’s easier when that’s more curated as opposed to mass volume,” says one political communicator who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Creators seem open to the responsibility, as several gathered at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to protest the bill. They’re also posting videos on the app opposing a potential ban using #KeepTikTok.
Nadya Okamoto, TikTok creator and cofounder of lifestyle period brand August, posted a video on Wednesday expressing her frustration with President Joe Biden’s support of the bill.
@nadyaokamoto President Biden is making a BIG MISTAKE letting this bill through. It absolutely means defeat this year if he turns against 8 years of eligible gen z voters. #keeptiktok ♬ original sound – Nadya Okamoto
She said she has contacted TikTok to ask which lawmakers to call and how to explain that the app is not a national security threat.
“I need some kind of direction there,” she says. “I’m not a politician or a lobbyist. I’m a creator with a platform.”
TikTok hasn’t given her these talking points, she says, but it has sent dozens of creators to the nation’s capital to protest.
Hasan Piker, a political commentator who mostly streams on Twitch but has more than 700,000 followers on TikTok, has also not been contacted by TikTok. He told PRWeek that the platform should ramp up lobbying efforts.
“The most important part of this strategy is going to be the lobbying part,” he says. “At the end of the day, TikTok benefits from…being a free social media platform that everyone is deeply addicted to.”
He drew parallels between TikTok and organizations like the NRA, saying that both can be effective at lobbying because they provide a highly valued commodity while being defended by constitutional amendments — TikTok has the first while the NRA has the second.
He added that creators can support TikTok’s cause by sharing their success stories as businesspeople.
“You have so many traditional small businesses owned and operated in the heartland of America being able to showcase their product to everyone around the world,” he says. “And then you also have influencers…those guys are also small business owners technically. That’s a lot of revenue that factors into the GDP.”
TikTok declined to share its comms strategy with PRWeek.
When prepping creators, TikTok must provide them with a clear explanation of how its corporate governance works, says Spahn.
“Fear of and negativity towards China is significant,” he says. “TikTok needs to continue taking steps beyond user-generated activism to assuage those concerns. The best way to do that is through explaining the reality of the business.”
He adds that the platform must put CEO Shou Zi Chew and other executives in front of cameras to explain its business and to combat concerns about a lack of transparency.
“They should be doing it on TikTok, on the pages of The New York Times and everywhere in between,” Spahn says.
TikTok seems to be getting the message. Chew plans to meet lawmakers this week while in Washington. On Wednesday, he posted a short video encouraging users to oppose the bill.
@tiktok
Response to TikTok Ban Bill
♬ original sound – TikTok
While PR pros agree that the app must prepare its creators for the Senate vote, they’re split on the effectiveness of its user-focused strategy.
Anton Perreau, president and MD of Battenhall in the U.S. and Canada, points out that TikTok’s mobilization of users wasn’t enough to affect votes in the House, where lawmakers were already set on divestment.
“They were already going to vote a certain way,” he says. “You have to detach the effectiveness of the strategy that they’re using and the climate that this is happening in.”
The flood of calls coming from users may have a greater impact down the line and isn’t something TikTok should give up on, he adds.
Other communicators are speculating that TikTok’s user-first approach is doing more harm than good. As users tell lawmakers how important TikTok is to them, they’re reaffirming politicians’ fear about the influence ByteDance has on the American public.
The reason TikTok’s strategy is backfiring is that they’re not an American company.
For a “homegrown” company, it can be powerful to (1) highlight your size, (2) flex your influence with users, (3) show how embedded you are in society, and (4) directly pressure legislators.… https://t.co/Bi3MewH5hB
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) March 7, 2024
“The anecdotes of teenagers calling and threatening to kill themselves if TikTok goes away is actually counterproductive because it feeds into the narrative,” the anonymous political comms expert says. “[TikTok] pulled the fire alarm by saying ‘we haven’t communicated about this with our users in any way, shape or form but we need to unleash them.’ The problem was they didn’t stay on a message.”
Politicians are also dismissing the calls of TikTok fans, saying the app’s push notifications “blatantly deceived Americans.”
On Monday, Republican and Democratic members of the House China Select Committee wrote a letter to Chew demanding that the platform stop portraying the divestment bill as an outright ban. Included in the letter is a screenshot of the app’s notification, which states “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok.”
However, TikTok hasn’t steered away from this messaging. In a written statement to PRWeek, a company spokesperson wrote, “This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”
On Thursday, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC that he is building an investor group to acquire TikTok in the U.S., which would in theory allow TikTok to continue to operate stateside under American-led ownership.
Each PR pro interviewed for this story sees forced divestment being more likely than an outright ban. However, Chew has stated that TikTok will fight an exhaustive legal battle before succumbing to divestiture, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, analysts have told CNBC that China will likely block a sale.
Other politicians openly support a ban. In an unexpected turn, former President Donald Trump — who was in office an outspoken proponent of banning TikTok — is now the odd man out amongst Republicans by opposing it.
However, given Trump’s attempt to ban the app in 2020, PR pros recommend that TikTok not seek more of his support. Trump’s flip-flop on the issue reportedly comes less than two weeks after meeting with donor and hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, who has a large financial stake in TikTok.
“It’s an election year, so it’s very difficult to know what people authentically feel about this,” says Perreau.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 14 to include Piker’s comments.
This story first appeared on PRWeek U.S.
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