by Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson beamed as he talked about the State of the Union while sitting in the kitchen where he films some of his TikTok videos.
“It’s a little risky to talk about the State of the Union from your kitchen these days, but let’s give it a shot,” the North Carolina Democrat said before discussing how the lights in the room were three times brighter than usual that night that, the bet he made about how many heckles there would be among the members of Congress and looking up to his wife, Marisa, to give a standing ovation when Biden mentioned IVF, as they went through the procedure twice.
It’s that kind of sassiness and relatability that has struck a chord with TikTok users and has led to the conference gaining an impressive number of more than two million followers over the past nearly three years. Aside from referencing the criticism Alabama Sen. Katie Britt received for delivering the GOP’s retort to Biden’s address, Jackson often shares his experience during his first term in Congress.
Whether he’s noticing the “fake anger” among congressional voices or being “toasted” during the redraw of North Carolina’s congressional map last year, Jackson often describes current affairs and incorporates videos, like the boxing, to paint a picture of how he does it. he plans to “go after political corruption” if he becomes attorney general.
However, the congressman was among the 352 members who voted in favor of legislation that could ban the app nationwide, which has garnered 36 million likes. Since the passage of the bill in the House, TikTok users have flooded the comments section of his recent videos, criticizing Jackson for his recent vote and vowing not to follow him. The number of Jackson followers seems to have dwindled in recent weeks.
Jackson isn’t the only House representative to take advantage of the popular app and vote for the bill that could ban it. Some of these representatives actively use the app to boost their campaigns, while others use it for office communication. Democratic representatives Colin Allred of Texas, Adam Schiff of California and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan used TikTok while campaigning for the Senate this year.
Jackson took to the app hours later to explain his vote, saying, “I don’t think TikTok will be banned.” The video received several negative comments and has since been deleted on TikTok (it stays on X).
“TikTok may be sold to another company, but it will continue to operate,” Jackson said in the video. “The bill that was passed in the House was to tell TikTok that they have to sell to another company.”
He added in a statement, “I have repeatedly said that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, must sell their shares. The best-case scenario is that TikTok continues to operate but is no longer owned – and potentially controlled – by a rival government. That is exactly what this legislation does.”
In a video apology on Saturday, Jackson said “I didn’t handle this situation well from start to finish and that’s why I’ve been completely roasted on this app for the last 48 hours.” He went on to give “more explanation” of the bill and his vote in favor of it.
“When I was reading the bill, the part I agreed with was the part that tries to implement sales because I thought this would be a better app if we didn’t have to worry about the possibility of the stuff that comes with control. by a rival government,” he said.
“The part I didn’t like was the part that threatened a ban. Half the country is on this app. He became a force for good in the lives of millions of people. So I weighed those two things and the reason I voted for it was because I truly believe there’s almost zero chance of a ban for a lot of reasons,” Jackson continued.
The concurrence vote in favor of the new TikTok bill comes after a victory in the North Carolina Democratic primary for Attorney General last week; Jackson will face his fellow councilman, Republican Dan Bishop, in November.
Some members who voted in favor of the bill believe that the US should be able to control the technology.
While state and federal lawmakers have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices, efforts to create new legislation to regulate the app continue as US officials have warned for years that China’s information laws could enable Beijing to snoop on the user information that TikTok collects.
“This is a very close issue and I do not take lightly any adverse action towards a service that is used by over half of all Americans,” said Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, whose office uses the app to share information. some news release last week. “But the United States has the right to regulate a social media company controlled by a hostile authoritarian Chinese regime that exercises broad power over American discourse and popular culture.”
While Schiff said he does not support banning TikTok even though less restrictive methods are available, he said the legislation “gives the administration the leverage and authority to require divestment.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s ability to exploit private user data and manipulate public opinion through TikTok poses serious national security concerns,” said Schiff, who advanced to the November election in the California Senate race recently, in a statement. “For that reason, I believe divestment is the best option to preserve access to the platform, while mitigating those risks.”
The legislative action against TikTok stems from national security concerns related to its Chinese parent company ByteDance. If enacted, the bill would give TikTok roughly five months to separate from ByteDance, or app stores in the United States would be barred from hosting the app on their platforms.
The bill would have to be passed in both the House and the Senate before being sent to the president to be signed into law. Although it passed the House with bipartisan support, the fate of the legislation is less clear in the Senate, where there is no companion bill. President Joe Biden, whose campaign has his own TikTok account, said he would sign the bill if it came to his desk.
The question of prohibition
Some representatives who voted in favor of the bill have emphasized that it is not intended to be a ban on TikTok.
“The Chinese government remains the most active and persistent cyber threat to the United States,” Allred, who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, said in a news release Wednesday. “This is not a ban, instead it creates a system to preserve TikTok and protect our freedoms and privacy by requiring ByteDance to fully divest TikTok.”
Other representatives admitted that their staff used the app. Slotkin said in a statement on X, “It’s important to recognize that I benefit from TikTok’s ability to reach” Michiganders.
“I’m a candidate, as you said, for the Senate,” Slotkin, who is running to succeed Sen. Debbie Stabenow, tell MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Thursday. “Most of us wish TikTok was available, right? You don’t think I have nieces and nephews and staff on TikTok who love it? Of course. I don’t want to ban it. I don’t want the Chinese government to control that data.”
But TikTok said they hope the Senate will understand the impact the app will have and urged House lawmakers on the bill.
“This process was secret and the bill was introduced for one reason: it is a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” said a TikTok spokesperson in a statement.
Annie Wu Henry, a digital strategist who cut Senator John Fetterman’s presence on the app during his 2022 campaign, said that TikTok creates an accessible and fair space for individuals, politicians, organizations and activists to have their voice heard and have a platform. She said that the online space is becoming more important and is an additional tool that can be used to organize people, raise money, communicate information and provide brand and name awareness.
“It was a loss of a place where people can organize, a place where people can use their voice, a place where people can also express their opinions publicly,” Henry said.
Joint communication
Along with members of the House who have hopped on the app for campaign purposes, some members use the app through their office to discuss the latest news and what they are working on in Congress.
Of those members who use it to share their offices, Democratic representatives Sean Casten of Illinois, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Wiley Nickel of North Carolina, Pascrell and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico voted in favor of the bill that could to be there. TikTok banned in the US.
Landsman said he uses most of the social media platforms to “communicate with constituents about the services they might be eligible for, how we can be helpful, the legislation we’re working on. Just being as transparent and accountable as we can.”
The Democratic congressman said if TikTok is banned, he will continue to use the social media platforms that aren’t banned, but added, “I don’t think that’s going to happen here.”
“It’s really a TikTok sale, not a TikTok bill ban. So this gives the administration and those involved, who are much closer to this, the leverage they need to resolve this thing,” he said.
Henry said what worries her is the line, “it opens the floodgates for other apps to be banned because what if something else comes up? Will it be banned because people are concerned about it, or problems, or maybe people don’t like it?”
CNN has reached out to the offices of Casten, Nickel and Stansbury for comment.
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