The United States House of Representatives has finally found an issue its members can agree on. Unfortunately, it’s not the current border situation, student loans, or the minimum wage. No, it seems the only thing the lower house of Congress overwhelmingly agrees on is TikTok = bad.
On Wednesday, in an unusual show of bipartisan cooperation, the House of Representatives passed a bill known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that “could lead to a nationwide ban against TikTok,” according to CNN. The bill, if passed, “would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.”
Unsurprisingly, some TikTokers have responded in protest, including political blogger Alex Pearlman (@pearlmania500) and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Odie Matthews (@odiematthewssss), who both posted videos decrying the bill’s passage in the face of issues that have not received widespread bipartisan support.
Another user on the platform is reaching out to his nearly quarter million followers and claiming that the House’s actions fly in the face of freedom of speech and will prevent people from organizing protests.
The user, known only by his handle, Bee. Better (@bee.better.company) uses his account to market his family’s organic honey business. He claims to be “the youngest person in Canada to graduate with an MBA” in marketing.
Recently, Bee. Better has posted several viral videos in which he claims to analyze the failures and successes of celebrity brands, including Kylie Jenner, Emma Chamberlain, and even Taylor Swift. But one of his latest videos purports to call out the “Downfall of TikTok” itself.
He posted the video on Wednesday. It has already picked up over 2.2 million views and counting.
“It takes months and months to get aid for people when there’s a hurricane, but somehow the gremlins in Congress just really got together and finally they agreed on something,” Bee. Better says in the video.
“They do not want the peasants having power, and they do not want us having important conversations, and most importantly they don’t want us to have the ability to threaten the money of their donors,” he goes on to claim.
Bee. Better is Canadian but says that if the ban were to go into effect in the U.S., “the app might as well be dead.”
He states his opinion that the bill will be passed in the Senate and make its way to President Biden’s desk. Biden has already expressed his willingness to sign the bill into law.
“Our ability to mobilize in large groups [via TikTok] is extremely terrifying to them,” he says. “The government [has] actually gotten to the point that they are terrified of our ability to have conversations and mobilize for causes.”
Bee. Better then alludes to boycotts that gain exposure and solidarity on TikTok, such as the upcoming April boycott of Kellogg’s and ongoing boycotts against Starbucks.
“If TikTok goes away tomorrow, we’re not going to have the ability to mobilize in the same way,” he states in the video.
TikTok itself has categorized the bill as “an attack on the constitutional right to freedom of expression for its users,” according to CNN.
The ACLU seems to agree. “We’re deeply disappointed that our leaders are once again attempting to trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points during an election year,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union in a statement on the organization’s website. “Just because the bill sponsors claim that banning TikTok isn’t about suppressing speech, there’s no denying that it would do just that.”
@bee.better.company THEY BANNED TIK TOK GO SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL BECAUSE IM JUMPING SHIP AND GONNA START POSTING THERE!! #tiktokban ♬ original sound – Bee better
Bee. Better also states in his video how surprised he was by the overwhelming number of voters backing the bill in the House. “I was pretty alarmed, like, I was watching the live feed of the votes and, like, it was overwhelming.”
According to The Washington Post, the bill passed with a vote of 352 in support to only 65 in opposition. The GOP has supported a ban on TikTok for a while and Democratic support for a ban has been building since last year. In the end, 197 Republican representatives voted to pass the ban alongside 155 Democrats.
Bee. Better also stated his belief that passage of the bill may lead to a Democratic defeat at the polls this November. “If Joe Biden signs this into law and TikTok ends up getting banned, I wanna predict that Donald Trump will win.”
Bella Rose (@onlyjayus) agreed with Bee. Better in the video’s comments section, writing, “doing this in during election is insane. it’s all about control and money… sick.”
Another viewer asked, “Why can’t we get a vote?”
Adriana M wrote, “They decided people think too much for themselves.”
Another viewer commented, “I truly feel it [sic] the government doesn’t like us seeing what’s going on in Gaza and Ukraine and Congo because information is power and they don’t like that.”
However, one viewer acknowledged the bill is hardly finalized yet, writing, “The bill *could* lead to a TikTok ban, but it hasn’t yet. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!”
According to CBS News, Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, “predicted that the Senate is unlikely to take action soon.” Asked about how soon a vote could be expected, Kramer stated, “It’s hard for me to imagine that it’ll be real fast. We don’t do things fast. We’re designed not to do things fast, so I would think months.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also told CBS he was doubtful the bill would get a floor vote. “I hope it’ll get a vote on the Senate floor,” he said. “But, as I have long predicted, it sounds to me now like it’s not going to.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Senators Cramer and Hawley via their respective websites for statements.
The Daily Dot has also reached out to Bee. Better via TikTok direct message for further comment.