HOUSTON – As the prospect of a TikTok ban seems more imminent, social media influencers nationwide are hoping lawmakers will reconsider.
The political chess match over the platform takes place as U.S.-China relations have shifted to a type of strategic rivalry, especially in areas where advanced technologies and data security, are seen as essential to each country’s economic prowess and national security. The shift started under former president Donald Trump’s administration and has continued under President Joe Biden, placing restrictions on exports on advanced technologies and outflow of U.S. monies to China, as well as access to the U.S. market by certain Chinese businesses.
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Just a few days ago, many influencers traveled to Washington D.C. to urge their representatives of the consequences a potential ban saying it could impact their livelihood. One of the influencers, Dr. Trevor Boffone, of Bellaire, emphasized that point in a live interview with KPRC 2′s Bill Spencer saying in part, “There are over 7 million small businesses in the United States who rely on TikTok, many of these rely on TikTok for the bulk of their income; this is where their livelihoods are based.”
However, a TikTok ban not only affects individual influencers, according to Dr. Boffone, but the platform impacts communities as a whole.
“This is a really important space to bring people together, also to talk about social justice issues as well,” he added. “TikTok isn’t just a place for silly dance challenges and, funny content. There’s actually really important education and world-building happening here.”
In a perplexing display of bipartisanship, the House unanimously approved the measure on a 352-65 vote last week. President Biden has said he will sign the legislation if lawmakers pass it, but it’s unclear what will happen in the Senate, where several bills aimed at banning TikTok have stalled.
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With a myriad of social media platforms to choose from, it certainly begs the question what makes TikTok so special?
“TikTok really is known for a community building app,” Dr. Boffone explained. “The way that TikTok works with the algorithm, it finds you and it gives you the content that you are interested in. So you can really find a community of, say, Houston Astros fans or Rodeo fans in a way that’s really difficult on, say, Twitter or Facebook.”
As for the discussion of national security, Dr. Boffone, who traveled to D.C. says he and other influencers do take it seriously but are asking lawmakers to be included in those conversations.
“We all think this is an issue, and we all think that this is something that’s affecting social media platforms across the board,” he said. “What we would like to see is for our lawmakers to really listen to us and listen to people that use these platforms to try to come up with comprehensive policy that looks at social media across the board.
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“A lot of the things that they’re saying that TikTok does, we already know that Meta does,” Dr. Boffone continued. “And we’ve seen the way that Twitter works and so on and so forth. And so I think we just want more transparency and we want more honest conversations.”