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TikTok has launched a $2.1 million ad campaign to send a clear message to senators in tough re-election battles this year: stop the House from passing a bill that could effectively ban the app in the United States.
“Think about the 5 million small business owners who rely on TikTok to support their families,” said a post by a self-proclaimed TikTok user. advertise. “It’s so sad to see all of this disappear,” another apparent user said.
this company The company has reserved TV ad space in battleground states such as Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to data previously unreported by AdImpact.
All five states are represented by vulnerable Senate Democrats, each running for another six-year term.
Other states that will see new TikTok ads include New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota, according to ad buying data.
New York and Beantown were major advertising markets for young people and journalists. Minnesota is home to Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, one of TikTok’s fiercest critics in Congress. Klobuchar is also up for re-election this year.
The ads began running on Wednesday, and buying will end on April 14 or April 28, depending on where the ads are shown, the data shows.
A new ad obtained by CNBC claims exhibit TikTok users warn their target audience about how much they will lose if TikTok is banned.
“This will affect a lot of people’s livelihoods,” said a sad-looking woman.
Senate Path
Despite TikTok’s hyperbole, the legislation passed by the House is not an outright ban. Instead, it requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its holdings in the app within about six months of the bill being signed into law.
If ByteDance doesn’t do this, TikTok won’t be available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, all but ensuring the app’s slow demise among U.S. users.
However, although the TikTok bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 352 to 65, its path to passage still faces uncertainty. Senate.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Evelyn Hochstein | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said recently that senators need time to “review the legislation” before sharing any timetable for potential passage.
President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill if it passes the Senate. Intelligence community officials recently provided classified briefings on TikTok to senators.
After the briefing, Commerce Committee Chairwoman Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said her panel may need to hold public hearings on the bill.
high-pressure lobbying
A spokesperson for TikTok said the ads were meant to show how the federal government could hurt small businesses if the bill passes the Senate.
“We believe the public at large should know that the government is seeking to trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans and destroy 7 million small businesses across the country,” a TikTok spokesperson explained.
The company said the acquisition would exceed the $2.1 million initially tracked by AdImpact, and that much of the investment would be focused on national and local television advertising.
The ads represent TikTok’s latest effort to undermine arguments in Washington over ByteDance’s ability to protect U.S. TikTok users’ personal data from China’s authoritarian Communist government.
TikTok users swarmed congressional offices to demand members of Congress vote against the ban. The number of such calls surged after TikTok encouraged users to make calls through the app. Require Lawmakers failed to pass the House bill.
senator. Thom Tillis, RN.C. shared a threatening voicemail from his office about a possible TikTok ban.Tillis’s office has explain Since the House passed the bill, it has received at least 1,000 calls about the app.
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