Hours after the House p،ed a bill that could ban TikTok in the United States, S،u Chew, the company’s CEO urged users to “protect your cons،utional rights.” Chew also implied that TikTok would mount a legal challenge if the bill is p،ed into law.
“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” Chew said in a video posted to X. “We will continue to do all we can including exercising our legal rights to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.” He also asked TikTok users in the US to share their stories with friends, families, and senators. “This legislation, if p،ed into law, will lead to a ban of TikTok in the United States,” Chew said. “Even the bill’s sponsors admit that’s their goal.”
The bill, known as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” p،ed the House on Wednesday with bipartisan support just days after it was introduced. S،uld the bill p، into law, it would force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, a Chinese corporation, to sell TikTok to a US company within six months, or be banned from US app stores and web ،sting services. TikTok has challenged state-level bans in the past. Last year, TikTok sued Montana, which banned the app in the state. A federal judge temporarily blocked that ban in November before it went into effect.
Last week, TikTok sent push notifications to the app’s more than 170 million users in the US urging them to call their representatives about the ،ential ban. “Speak up now — before your government ،s 170 million Americans of their Cons،utional right to free expression,” the notification said. The wave of notifications reportedly led to House s،ers being inundated with calls from high sc،olers asking what a Congressman is. Lawmakers criticized the company they perceived as trying to “interfere” with the legislative process.
In his appeal, Chew said that banning TikTok would give “more power to a handful of other social media companies.” Former President Donald T،p, w، once tried to force ByteDance to sell TikTok in the US, recently expressed a similar sentiment, claiming that banning TikTok would strengthen Meta w،se platform, Reels, competes with TikTok directly. Chew also added that taking TikTok away would also hurt ،dreds of t،usands of American jobs, creators, and small businesses.
منبع: https://www.engadget.com/tiktoks-ceo-urges-users-to-protect-your-cons،utional-rights-as-us-ban-looms-002806276.html?src=rss