TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has responded to the proposed bill that could ban the video-sharing app in the U.S., urging users to “make their voices heard” as the bill heads to the Senate for a vote.In a video, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew called the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, aka the TikTok ban bill, “disappointing”, and urged users to reach out to their U.S. Senator and share their stories about what the app means to them. @tiktok Response to TikTok Ban Bill ♬ original sound – TikTok “We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you; we believe we can overcome this together. I encourage you to keep sharing your stories,” Chew said in the response video posted on TikTok. “Share them with your friends. Share them with your family. Share them with your senators. Protect your constitutional rights. Make your voices heard.”Chew also noted that the ban would not only force users in the United States to lose access to the app but also “put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk.” Aside from big content creators like Khaby Lame and Charli D’Amelio, small businesses that use the platform to promote their business would also lose TikTok as one of their sources of income. This does not even include the politicians, some of whom have used the platform to help them get elected or reelected into public office but now sing a different tune as they voted on or expressed support for the bill that will ban the app in the country. The response comes as the U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass the bill with a vote of 352-65. The bill will now head to the Senate for a vote. Should it pass, President Biden has said that he will sign the bill into law and force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the app to another company or risk being banned in the United States.Potential U.S. Buyers Express InterestWhile some outlets are saying that the bill may not pass in the Senate, some investors are already lining up to prepare to buy TikTok should ByteDance decide to sell it off to an individual. Among those interested in buying the video sharing app include ex-Actvision CEO Bobby Kotick and former Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin. The latter revealed on CNBC today that he was putting together an investment group to buy TikTok.Image Credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY / Getty ImagesTaylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
