TikTok asks users to call on Congress to fight a possible ban

Lawmakers in Washington introduced a bill this week calling on TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company or be banned in the United States. When many users opened the popular app on Thursday, the company greeted them with a message opposing the legislation, prompting a flood of calls to various Capitol Hill offices.

“Stop a TikTok shutdown,” the message on the app read. It included a button for people to call their representatives and say, “Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”

By noon, phone lines for members of Congress were flooded with calls, according to messages from staffers of lawmakers at X and two congressional aides with knowledge of the situation. Some callers appeared to be teenagers, while others hung up as soon as they connected, aides said. One employee posted a screenshot on X showing that TikTok is also present sent a push alert for some users.

Some users on X said they couldn’t use the app before calling; it was unclear whether it was possible to bypass the message.

Tech companies have often tried to mobilize users in response to legislation, but rarely have these efforts been so overt.

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the legislation 50-0 on Thursday. It aims to force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the app. The House bill is one of several attempts over the past year to restrict TikTok over concerns that ByteDance’s relationship with Beijing poses national security risks.

Representatives Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, who are co-sponsors of the bill, criticized TikTok’s message, saying it was misleading. “Here you have an example of an adversary-controlled application lying to the American people and disrupting the legislative process in Congress,” they said.

TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It had previously said lawmakers’ fears were unfounded, in part because its U.S. operations and user data are protected from the rest of the organization.

The legislation has a long way to go before it becomes law. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said Thursday he supported the bill. If the full House approves the legislation, it will go to the Senate.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, who has introduced his own legislation targeting the app, said he had some concerns about how the new bill directly mentioned TikTok and ByteDance, a fact that could be cited in a legal challenge of the legislation. But he said, “I have tremendous respect for Congressman Gallagher and I am going to take a closer look at this bill.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, determines which legislation is considered by the full Senate. His spokesperson did not answer when asked whether he supported the TikTok legislation.

Mike Nellis, a Democratic digital strategist and former senior adviser to Kamala Harris, said TikTok’s warning to users was a “smart organizing tactic.”

But he added: “I would be concerned that the tactic would backfire and highlight the real problem, which is that a foreign-owned tech company has so much influence within the United States.”

Mr. Nellis, who has worked on campaigns advertised on TikTok, also said, “I imagine members of Congress are feeling more pressure to take action than before after being inundated with these types of calls.”

On Thursday afternoon, the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a note to lawmakers’ offices with advice on how to respond to the flood of calls. The note, obtained by The New York Times, included the committee’s arguments in favor of the bill and “phone scripts” for responding directly to callers.

One of the scripts suggested that employees tell callers that “TikTok lied about the bill” and that the app “has worked very hard to hide its relationship with China.”

“The bill requires TikTok to sever that relationship,” the committee script said. It advised employees to tell callers that when the app does that, “you can continue to use TikTok” without Chinese influence.