Congressional offices were inundated with tens of thousands of phone calls on Thursday from panicked young adults who had received a notification from TikTok warning that the app could be shut down by the federal government.
“Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok,” the notification said, urging users to call their lawmakers and tell them to “stop a TikTok shutdown.” The app even asked users to enter their ZIP code, which the app then used to list their exact congressional representative and a button that would direct users’ calls to said representative. Some users reported that they had to make the call in order to use the app.
The result was a full-scale meltdown. One congressional office said they received dozens of calls from teenagers who threatened to commit suicide if TikTok was taken from them. Another office said many of the young adults who contacted them admitted they spend their “whole day” on the app.
This should be a major scandal. A company directly tied to and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party is pushing American children into direct political action. At best, this is political interference by the U.S.’s top adversary. At worst, it’s a deliberate effort to weaponize the mental health of American children and divide the country internally — all to force the U.S. government to abandon its national security objectives.
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And TikTok isn’t even trying to hide it. The bill they object to, introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), would not shut down the app. In fact, it would allow the app to remain fully operational in the U.S. so long as it divests from ByteDance, the Chinese-controlled company that currently owns TikTok. All TikTok has to do is find an American buyer, which surely would not be difficult considering the app’s massive audience and revenue potential.
But TikTok is refusing to even consider that option and is instead using its entire addictive arsenal to send impressionable teenagers into a frenzy. And in doing so, the app has proved to lawmakers just how dangerous it really is.