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TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have spent more than $7 million so far this year trying to prevent Congress from passing legislation that would ban the social media app from being sold in the United States.
In the first three months of this year, ByteDance alone spent a record $2.68 million on internal TikTok lobbyists to target Congress and federal officials, according to new data. lobbying Disclosure Report. TikTok has spent more than $4.5 million this year on television and digital ad campaigns to fight legislation that could ban the app, according to AdImpact.
A TikTok spokesperson said of the payout: “This payout reflects our work to educate policymakers about how legislation impacts our community of 170 million U.S. users.”
The disclosures show how TikTok officials lobbied Congress and President Joe Biden’s executive office last quarter. The Executive Office of the President includes departments such as the National Security Council, Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
The House of Representatives passed the latest TikTok-related legislation on Saturday, giving ByteDance about nine months to divest the social media app or face it being banned in the U.S. if the bill is signed into law
this Senate A vote on the latest TikTok bill is scheduled for Tuesday. The Senate first passed a procedural vote on a foreign aid package containing new TikTok legislation. The successful vote signals that the package may be on the verge of final approval.
The House passed a similar bill in March that would have given ByteDance about six months to divest TikTok assets, but the bill has since stalled in the Senate.
Recent internal lobbying spending does not take into account other payments to outside consultants. Veteran lobbyist David Urban received $80,000 from ByteDance last quarter to try to influence Congressional legislation targeting the technology company in March, according to a disclosure report.
This marks LGL Advisors as the largest firm to receive a bit-beat payment in a given quarter, according to federal lobbying data.
Urban did not respond to a request for comment. A White House spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Since January 1, TikTok has spent more than $400,000 to outside lobbying firms in Washington.
The previous largest first-quarter lobbying spending was in 2023, at more than $1.8 million, according to ByteDance data. open secret. Byte bounce In 2023, TikTok spent more than $8 million in lobbying expenses.
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