Giovanna Gonzalez of Chicago demonstrates opposition to the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act after the TikTok creator held a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., pending House legislation to crack down on TikTok.
Craig Hudson | Reuters
In response to a possible U.S. ban, TikTok’s advertising spending has more than doubled to more than $4.5 million, and Congress hopes to quickly enact legislation to push parent company ByteDance to spin off the social media app.
TikTok spends more than $2.5 million on TV advertise According to data from AdImpact, this number has been on the rise since March. Data shows that the popular social media company has spent nearly $900,000 on digital advertising.
AdImpact data from late March showed TikTok initially purchased $2.1 million in ads.
The House of Representatives recently tied a new bill to legislation providing further aid to Ukraine and Israel that, if signed into law, would give ByteDance nine months to divest TikTok or the app would be banned in the United States. A vote on the bill could come as soon as Saturday.
President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk. The bill allows the president to give Bitbeat an additional 90 days after the nine-month divestiture period if the sale proceeds.
TikTok’s increased ad spending could be the company’s last stand against the latest legislation, as the new bill appears to have gained critical support in the Senate.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Agree Wednesday’s new bill praises ByteDance for potentially spinning off TikTok. Cantwell and her committee will be tasked with reviewing the TikTok bill if it passes the House.
The House passed a similar TikTok bill in March that gave the company about six months to divest the assets. The bill has since stalled in the Senate.
Since March, the company has reserved TV ads in key battleground states such as Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.. All five states are represented by vulnerable Senate Democrats, each running for another six-year term.
According to AdImpact, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey is running for re-election in Pennsylvania, and TikTok has spent more than $690,000 on advertising in the state.
The ads are the latest effort by TikTok to undercut the debate in Washington over whether ByteDance can protect the personal data of U.S. TikTok users from the Chinese government.
One of the TikTok ads that began airing in markets including Pittsburgh in early April is titled “Take it.” Similar to other corporate ads, it sees American businesses using TikTok to promote their brands and ends with #KeepTikTok. TikTok has more than 150 million U.S. users.
Another TikTok ad titled “freedom of speech” Already broadcast in Philadelphia.
TikTok users have previously 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 first House bill.
A TikTok spokesperson declined to comment.
NBC News’ Benjamin Kamisar contributed to this article
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