TikTok on Friday displayed a notice to some US users urging them to call their senators and ask them to vote against a bill that would ban the popular short video app unless it is sold to Chinese tech company ByteDance.
“Tell your senator how important TikTok is to you. Ask them to vote against banning TikTok,” read the announcement, which allowed users to enter their zip code to find their senator’s phone number.
“Now, if the Senate votes, the future of the creativity and communities you love on TikTok could be sealed,” the announcement read.
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On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that gives ByteDance roughly six months to sell the app’s US assets or face a ban.
The White House said the Senate should take “swift action” and President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill into law.
“We will continue to inform our community about how the ban law will affect them and what they can do to make their voices heard,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding that the alert is only being issued to users of voting age.
The alert appeared when some people opened the app and also appeared when users searched for “TikTok ban”.
TikTok sent a similar warning to users ahead of the House vote, warning that “the government will take away the community you and millions of other Americans love.”
Lawmakers complained that their offices were flooded with calls from TikTok users opposing the legislation.
