Advancing American Freedom (AAF), a political advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, has launched an ad campaign pressuring Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring the TikTok bill to a vote.
“TikTok is the Chinese Communist Party’s way to feed America’s youth their propaganda and collect data on all TikTok users,” Mr. Pence said in a statement.
“Last week, TikTok launched a $2 million ad campaign to stop the legislation that would disentangle the app from the CCP, but AAF is fighting back, launching an ad campaign to urge Congress to get the bill passed and signed into law,” he added. “We can’t cede our national security to the Chinese Communist Party. The time for the Senate to act is now.”
If enacted, the legislation would prohibit U.S. app stores from hosting TikTok unless Chinese parent company ByteDance divests the app. The aim is to free the app from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Next, the ad shows Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaking about the threats posed by TikTok.
“Republicans and Democrats in Washington agree on one thing: We need to stop China by stopping TikTok. Call Sen. Chuck Schumer and urge him to bring the TikTok bill to a vote,” the voiceover states.
Support for TikTok Bill
TikTok has been placing pop-up notifications urging its users to call their lawmakers and advocate against the legislation. Some congressmen have even received death threats from callers, including Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).“China has a connection to TikTok. Think about the 1,000s and 1,000s of calls to Washington; that is information that could be made available to the Chinese Communist Party because there is still a connection to a Chinese company and they have an obligation to cooperate with their government,” he said, before adding that China is not a democracy but a totalitarian regime.
“TikTok users need to understand we’re not talking about getting rid of TikTok. We’re talking about protecting this platform and protecting your information,” Mr. Tillis added.
However, the majority of respondents aged between 18 and 34 years old were not in favor of the bill. According to the poll, 60 percent of this age group opposed the bill while 35 percent supported it.
The poll also found that the TikTok bill enjoyed support across party lines. According to the poll, 73 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of Democrats, and 65 percent of Independents supported the TikTok bill.
84 percent of respondents knew that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, and 73 percent were concerned that the app is owned by a Chinese company.
“Americans see China for the threat that it is, and they don’t want their social media apps controlled by a hostile foreign adversary,” said America 2100 Senior Advisor Nate Hochman in a statement accompanying the poll.
“Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats will have to choose between placating a loud, left-wing, TikTok-addicted activist base, and the American majority that wants the Chinese Communist Party out of our tech platforms and our country.”