TikTok’s CEO urges users to ‘protect your constitutional rights’ as US ban looms

Hours after the Home passed a bill that might ban TikTok in america, Shou Chew, the corporate’s CEO urged customers to “defend your constitutional rights.” Chew additionally implied that TikTok would mount a authorized problem if the invoice is handed into regulation.

“We won’t cease preventing and advocating for you,” Chew mentioned in a video posted to X. “We’ll proceed to do all we will together with exercising our authorized rights to guard this superb platform that now we have constructed with you.” He additionally requested TikTok customers within the US to share their tales with buddies, households, and senators. “This laws, if handed into regulation, will result in a ban of TikTok in america,” Chew mentioned. “Even the invoice’s sponsors admit that’s their purpose.”

The invoice, generally known as the “Defending Individuals from International Adversary Managed Purposes Act” handed the Home on Wednesday with bipartisan help simply days after it was launched. Ought to the invoice move into regulation, it might drive TikTok’s dad or mum firm ByteDance, a Chinese language company, to promote TikTok to a US firm inside six months, or be banned from US app shops and website hosting companies. TikTok has challenged state-level bans previously. Final yr, TikTok sued Montana, which banned the app within the state. A federal choose temporarily blocked that ban in November earlier than it went into impact.

Final week, TikTok sent push notifications to the app’s greater than 170 million customers within the US urging them to name their representatives concerning the potential ban. “Communicate up now — earlier than your authorities strips 170 million Individuals of their Constitutional proper to free expression,” the notification mentioned. The wave of notifications reportedly led to Home staffers being inundated with calls from excessive schoolers asking what a Congressman is. Lawmakers criticized the corporate they perceived as attempting to “intervene” with the legislative course of.

In his attraction, Chew mentioned that banning TikTok would give “extra energy to a handful of different social media corporations.” Former President Donald Trump, who as soon as tried to drive ByteDance to promote TikTok within the US, just lately expressed the same sentiment, claiming that banning TikTok would strengthen Meta whose platform, Reels, competes with TikTok immediately. Chew additionally added that taking TikTok away would additionally damage a whole bunch of hundreds of American jobs, creators, and small companies.