Alexandra Doten, an expert in space communications who goes by @astro_alexandra on the app, is based near Washington, DC. But she says she also received support from the company. “I got the hotel too!” she says. “I don’t know. They just shuttle me there.”
While Doten was able to meet with her congressman, Maryland’s Glenn Ivey, this week, the highlight for her was meeting astronaut-turned-senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. She also got a true taste of life at the Capitol when the state’s other senator, Kirsten Synema, sent a staffer to meet with the influencers on her behalf. It’s unclear if their goodwill tour will sway any of TikTok’s countless congressional critics, who claim the app poses a threat to US national security.
Chew is the latest in a line of Big Tech executives who’ve had to face hostile (if often uninformed) lawmakers. But unlike Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg or Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Chew is the only CEO who has had technology banned on US government devices or been accused of being a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok’s response to lawmakers asserting that the CCP could use the app for everything from espionage to election-influence operations is to launch a PR offensive on Washington. In addition to the more than $10 million the company has dropped on lobbyists over the past two years, this week it also tapped the Los Angeles-based Hotline Agency, “a Black and queer-owned boutique creative communications agency,” to help retell its story. Hence, the company spending lavishly this week to ensure its best assets—its diverse group of creators—get private face time with Washington power brokers before members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee accuse Chew of being an operative for Chinese communists.
At TikTok’s press conference yesterday, the enthusiasm emanating from the crowd of more than 140 people was tangible; influencer stories were deeply personal. After a brutal month for the beleaguered tech firm, all the cheering and sign-waving for Yu and other speakers, including three sympathetic Democratic lawmakers, made it seem like TikTok had finally turned the tide and gotten organic momentum on its side. That tone soon clashed with the TikTok signs held by members of the crowd that had a glossy (but not too glossy) sheen indicative of a high-priced PR firm.
Much as the app’s users are addicted to its unparalleled For You feature, TikTok’s team carefully manicured this press conference to appeal to journalists’ most basic instincts. A taco influencer, with a cake served up for dessert; a nurse; a “patriot”; artists; musicians; and a model. The press corps, which made up roughly half the crowd, couldn’t look away.
The tech company isn’t just throwing money at its image problems. It also announced new safety features ahead of today’s hearing, including acquiescing to pressure to drastically limit the time children are allowed to spend on the app daily, from unlimited to 60 minutes.
TikTok also enjoyed the vocal support of some lawmakers. Advocates for the app say the company poses no more of a threat to America’s children than, say, Facebook did when it allegedly buried research showing Instagram was a health risk to children, according to one whistleblower.
