“OK, listen, if you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you,” one said, giggling and talking over other young voices in the background. “I’ll shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces.” Another threatened to kill Tillis, and then take their own life.
Tillis’s office says it has received around 1,000 calls about TikTok since the House passed legislation this month that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users — many of whom are young — to call their representatives, even providing an easy link to the phone numbers. “The government will take away the community that you and millions of other Americans love,” read one pop-up message from the company when users opened the app.
Tillis, who supports the House bill, reported the call to the police. “What I hated about that was it demonstrates the enormous influence social media platforms have on young people,” he said in an interview.
While more aggressive than most, TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest attempt by the tech industry to head off any new legislation — and it’s a fight the industry usually wins. For years Congress has failed to act on bills that would protect users’ privacy, protect children from online threats, make companies more liable for their content and put loose guardrails around artificial intelligence, among other things.
This story is from the March 29, 2024 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 29, 2024 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TIKTOK SUES US TO BLOCK LAW THAT COULD BAN THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the U.S. over a law that would ban the popular video-sharing app unless it's sold to another company, arguing that it vaguely paints it as a threat to national security to get around the First Amendment.
DISNEY'S STREAMING BUSINESS TURNS A PROFIT IN FIRST FINANCIAL REPORT SINCE CHALLENGE TO IGER
India, Disney+Hotstar, it expects its combined streaming businesses to be profitable in the fourth quarter and to be a meaningful future growth driver for the company, with further improvements in profitability in fiscal 2025.
INSTACART PARTNERS WITH UBER EATS TO OFFER RESTAURANT DELIVERIES
Grocery delivery company Instacart is partnering with Uber Eats to offer a new perk to its customers: restaurant delivery.
RYAN GOSLING AND EMILY BLUNT ARE GREAT FUN IN 'THE FALL GUY
One of the worst movie sins is when a comedy fails to at least match the natural charisma of its stars. Not all actors are capable of being effortlessly witty without a tightly crafted script and some excellent direction and editing.
FRENCH CYBERWARRIORS READY TO TEST THEIR DEFENSE AGAINST HACKERS AND MALWARE DURING THE OLYMPICS
Just like the Olympic athletes, the cyberwarriors that will be crucial for the success of the Paris Games are deep into training for the big event.
NINTENDO TO ANNOUNCE SWITCH SUCCESSOR IN THIS FISCAL YEAR AS PROFITS RISE
Japanese video-game maker Nintendo said this week that it will make an announcement about a successor to its Switch home console sometime before March 2025.
US SEEKS INFORMATION FROM TESLA ON HOW IT DEVELOPED AND VERIFIED WHETHER AUTOPILOT RECALL WORKED
Federal highway safety investigators want Tesla to tell them how and why it developed the fix in a recall of more than 2 million vehicles equipped with the company’s Autopilot partially automated driving system.
SLOW TO EXPAND, INTERNET CASINO GAMBLING IS THE FUTURE OF US BETTING, INDUSTRY EXECS SAY
Internet casino gambling is legal in only a handful of states, but the industry is convinced it is the future of betting, even as some worry about cannibalizing physical casinos.
US LOOSENS SOME ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY RULES, POTENTIALLY MAKING MORE EVS ELIGIBLE FOR TAX CREDITS
The U.S.government loosened some rules governing electric vehicle tax credits, potentially making more EVs eligible for credits of up to $7,500 but leading critics to accuse the Biden administration of helping China.
FTX WILL RETURN MONEY TO MOST CUSTOMERS LESS THAN 2 YEARS AFTER CATASTROPHIC CRYPTO COLLAPSE
FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that.
