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TikTok\u2019s fate in the U.S. could hinge on a new bill moving through Congress, but the company\u2019s massive campaign urging users to oppose it with their representatives may wind up doing more harm than good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Thursday, TikTok flooded its users\u2019 phones with a push notification<\/a> and a message to \u201cStop a TikTok shutdown,\u201d with a link that allowed users to quickly call their representatives from within the app. The campaign led to hundreds<\/a> if not thousands of calls to lawmakers, according to multiple outlets, but it also highlighted TikTok\u2019s massive influence: exactly what some elected officials see as the key danger in a foreign-controlled company shaping the opinions of such a large group of Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), told CBS News<\/a> that TikTok\u2019s campaign targeted minors who didn\u2019t know what a congressman was. While TikTok\u2019s initiative was meant to convince lawmakers to oppose the bill, Krishnamoorthi said it actually demonstrated why so many members of Congress voted to advance it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want a foreign adversary-controlled social media app using geolocation to target minor children to call members of Congress or interfere in our elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The U.S. government hasn\u2019t definitively proven that China is accessing TikTok user data and the company has said it would not hand over data<\/a> to the Chinese government. A spokesperson for TikTok declined to comment.<\/p>\n The TikTok bill, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act<\/a>, would give TikTok five months to cut ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance, or face a ban from app marketplaces in the U.S. Marketplaces that violate the law would face a fine of $5,000<\/a> per user of the app, which could put violating companies on the hook for billions of dollars, thanks to TikTok\u2019s massive user base.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite being introduced just earlier this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has already voted unanimously<\/a> to advance the bill. Key lawmakers have also said they would support the bill, including Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), and on Friday afternoon President Biden said<\/a> he would sign the legislation if it made it to his desk. Still, in the Senate, some lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) remain opposed<\/a> to the bill.<\/p>\n Supporting lawmakers maintain that the bill isn\u2019t a ban but rather a choice because it gives the company a chance to separate from its Chinese parent company. Yet, TikTok has painted the legislation as an attack on the free expression of its 170 million American users.<\/p>\n \u201cThis legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,\u201d the company said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the past, Other tech companies have used their influence to help sway users\u2019 opinions on laws that affect them. When in 2015 New York City was considering a law that would cap the number of ride-hail drivers in the city, Uber<\/a> built a fake wait time meter<\/a> into their app that showed how much longer finding a driver would take were the law to pass, and urged users to send an email opposing it to then-mayor Bill DeBlasio and the city council.<\/p>\n The bill that could ban TikTok still has to pass the full House and then move through the Senate before having a shot at becoming law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n