TikTok Devotees Say Platform Unfairly Targeted For US Ban

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Mar, 2024) TikTok creators voiced outrage Wednesday over proposed legislation that could scuttle the platform in the United States, saying it defies common sense and financial wisdom.

The House of Representatives approved a bill that would force TikTok to divest from its Chinese owner or be banned over its alleged links to the Communist Party in Beijing.

"If it was really about all the things they were saying, then we would be having this conversation with (X owner) Elon Musk, who basically could change American politics at a whim," TikTok creator Ariella Elm told AFP outside the White House.

Elm, a self-described political activist, has some 287,000 followers on TikTok.

President Joe Biden says he would sign the bill into law if it came to his desk, but the bill must make it through the Senate first.

"It's a big possibility that it could be banned, which is crazy," fellow TikTok creator Nathan Espinoza, whose uses the handle 'beowulftiktok', told AFP.

"Lawmakers don't understand how huge of an issue this is."

"My entire comment section of videos that I've posted about this topic are just flooded with an overwhelmingly negative response, where people are not happy with it at all."

TikTok has been adamant that the Chinese government does not pull its strings.

"A lot of these lawmakers are making it sound like it's just full of Chinese propaganda or it's full of messages from the Chinese Communist Party," Espinoza said.

"But for me, it's actually been the only social media where I've seen an even representation of all sides of politics."

ago, we didn't have it. It'll be OK if we don't have it again," she said.