Earlier this year, Congress appeared to be on the cusp of passing a TikTok ban. For those who have experienced the bitter partisanship in contemporary American politics, it might have seemed surprising. This is especially so given the current state of divided government in Washington where the legislative and executive branches of government – let alone the two houses of Congress – seldom seem to agree on much. But agreement on this issue in Washington makes sense. Pew Research found in March that Americans support a ban on TikTok 50% to 22%, with the policy attracting a majority of Republicans and a plurality of Democratic support. In an era when Republicans and Democrats struggle to agree on much, this is quite notable. But something stopped that momentum in its tracks – the swamp rose up. GOP LAWMAKERS RENEW CALLS TO BAN TIKTOK AFTER USAMA BIN LADEN’S ‘LETTER TO AMERICA’ TREND WENT VIRAL As TikTok faced extinction, its China-based parent company, Bytedance, marshaled an army of lobbyists to whip up support. In just the first six months of 2023, TikTok’s parent company lavished $4.28 million on federal lobbyists tasked with defending the company’s interests on Capitol Hill – a tempo set to far outstrip the $5.3 million spent by the company on federal lobbying during all of 2022. Their lobbying efforts were met with success. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., the progressive “Squad” member famous for pulling a fire alarm, hosted a news conference defending the app. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor to block legislation in his chamber. And a handful of other members of Congress registered support for TikTok’s continued existence. This all happened even as the company’s chief executive struggled to satisfy lawmakers who quizzed him on privacy concerns and data security in March of this year. While Shou Zi Chew empirically …
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