The House Votes to Ban TikTok

A?bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. ?is headed to the Senate after passing the House this morning with rare, broad bipartisan support on display in a 352-65 vote. The measure, which has been gaining momentum among some members of Congress, the?White House , and?editorial pages for weeks, would require parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban of the app from all app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S. Last year, TikTok was?banned from all U.S. government devices ?based on concerns that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, will ultimately have to do whatever the Chinese government tells them to do, potentially making the wildly popular video sharing app a Trojan Horse,?in the words of the National Security Agency’s head of Cybersecurity .??

Just two weeks ago,?the Wall Street Journal reports , TikTok and ByteDance executives were told that the likelihood of a ban had passed, only to learn days later of the new bill being prepared with co-sponsors from ?both parties. Perhaps that’s why part of the company’s response to the proposed legislation seemed ill conceived, serving to further anger members of Congress and their staffs.?TikTok users were encouraged and assisted by the app to express their disapproval of this bill, and House members' phone lines?have been reportedly ringing nonstop . (A pop-up on the app has been circulating on for-you-pages ,?instructing?people to call their representatives to speak out against the measure.) Lawmakers were not pleased,?sending a letter to TikTok’s CEO ?arguing that the effort is a manipulation campaign of the American people on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, to which?TikTok fired back ,?claiming how "shameful" it is that representatives do not wish to hear from their constituents (170M of whom are on the app ).

A lot can happen before any legislation arrives on President Biden’s desk for signature, so it’s still unclear what the future of TikTok in the U.S. will look like—especially if it can still be?accessed through VPN . Many people?have long pointed out ?what they believe to be hypocrisies at play in the arguments against TikTok as well. President Biden, for instance,?joined the app just last month ,?yet?endorsed the bill last Friday . And for his part,?Donald Trump, the all-but-certain Republican opponent to Biden’s reelection and the de facto lead of the Republican party, has said he is against the bill,?citing concern that Meta would grow more influential in the aftermath,?contradicting the position he held ?when he was in the White House.

Why it matters: TikTok has become one of the central platforms for driving awareness and engaging with key audiences, especially younger consumers. With the risk of the app simply disappearing from U.S. consumers’ devices still alive, it will be important for brands to make sure they have planned for a possible transition away from their current social strategies. Understanding the drivers of consumer behavior patterns is crucial in this, and perhaps more important than the patterns themselves.

Other news and trends

• The 2024 Oscars.?Awards season came to a close on Sunday evening with the airing of the 96th?Academy Awards, which had a?4 percent rise in ratings and over 19 million people watching . Oppenheimer and Poor Things?may have swept the majority of the awards , but?Barbie arguably stole the show ?at several moments, including?Jimmy?Kimmel's nods ?to Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie and?Ryan Gosling's unforgettable live performance ?of "I'm Just Ken." Other notable moments include?nearly nude John Cena ?presenting Best Costume Design,?Kimmel's unscripted roast ?of Donald Trump, and?Al Pacino's awkward presentation ?of Best Picture.

• Lunchables challenges kids with A.I.?Lunchables' latest campaign ?featuring its newest products,?Mozza Sticks and Pretzel Twists , challenges children and A.I. to create original artwork tied to the following prompt: "Imagine our Dunkables Mozza Sticks or Pretzel Twists as something fantastical." While the results from the A.I. model were limited to food-based imagery, kids' creations were delightful depictions of out-of-this-world stories, like pretzel ninjas fighting peanut butter-spewing dragons.?As the latest extension of their "Powered by K.I." campaign , senior brand manager Alyssa Cicero explains the importance of this activity as fostering kids' imagination and, with the rise of technology and A.I., "providing more than just fuel for their bodies."
• The royal Photoshop flop.?After ongoing speculation on?the whereabouts of Kate Middleton , the Princess of Wales,?Kensington Palace released an image ?on Sunday of Middleton and her children in honor of Mother's Day in the UK. The photo was heavily photoshopped–so much so that?the Associated Press and Reuters issued rare kill notifications for it –and sparked?mass online conversations ?(and?conspiracy theories ). By Monday morning, the Princess of Wales herself?had to issue an apology ?on her and her husband's official X account. What may seem like a surface-level Photoshop faux pas actually fuels a larger narrative of the royal family in crisis and how we view political figures in our fully online world.?Mike Ananny suggests that this event ?"breaks this myth that royals are showing us genuine trusted images," begging the question of whether we can ever trust images coming from any public institution.

Contributors: Head of Social Content and Engagement Strategy Cristina Lawrence , Senior Vice President Jerry Lawrence , Group Vice President Andrew McKernan , and Senior Vice President Tammy Pepito . At Razorfish, we help brands define their higher purpose—the emotional reason why they belong in people’s lives. Ready to find your purpose? Learn more here .

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