Earlier this month, the House passed a bill forcing TikTok’s parent company to either sell the service or cease operations in the U.S. They call it the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
TikTok sent its users an in-app message urging them to call their representatives… but some users went a step further.
A law enforcement official told The Washington Post Tuesday that U.S. Capitol Police is investigating an “uptick” in “threats and concerning messages” related to the TikTok legislation.
The law enforcement official spoke to the paper anonymously… but others have corroborated this account.
A House aide reported multiple phone calls from people threatening self-harm in the event of a TikTok sale.
One Senate aide counted nearly a dozen violent threats sent to that Senate office since TikTok’s notification. The Senate aide added that Capitol police even contacted the family and school of one underage suspect.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., tweeted a voicemail from a TikToker apparently threatening to “shoot you and cut you into pieces.”
“If you ban TikTok, I will find you and shoot you,” the caller said, laughing. “That’s people’s jobs [sic], and that’s my only entertainment.”
Capitol Police has declined to either confirm or deny reports of these investigations. “For safety reasons, the USCP does not discuss potential investigations,” the organization told the newspaper in an email.
TikTok, for its part, has condemned the threats.
“Threats like this are unacceptable and we condemn this in the strongest possible terms,” TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek said in a statement to the Post.
“Clearly, there are millions of Americans who want to and have the right to speak out against the ban bill that would trample Americans’ constitutional rights of free expression, but we must all do so in a respectful, civil manner.”
The spokesman also claimed that TikTok had sent the notification only to users old enough to vote.
The app sent users a message urging them to “speak up” and “stop a TikTok shutdown.” It asked users to enter their ZIP code in order to find information about their representatives.
The ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft sent users a similar message in 2020, asking them to vote no on a California measure to classify drivers as employees. California voters ultimately passed the measure, against the wishes of their tech overlords.
However, Chuck Schumer’s Democrat-controlled Senate is moving slowly on the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
However, President Joe Biden has promised to sign it into law, if passed by Congress.
Take a look at TikTok’s attempt to activate panic mode —
Looks like TikTok is going on the offensive, asking its users to call members on the E&C committee to “stop a TikTok shutdown” https://t.co/WmW5ciF6Mt pic.twitter.com/5XzD8nNesa
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) March 7, 2024
This is a voicemail my office received last night. TikTok's misinformation campaign is pushing people to call their members of Congress, and callers like this who communicate threats against elected officials could be committing a federal crime. The Communist-Chinese aligned… pic.twitter.com/X9uW03neqw
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 20, 2024
The Associated Press contributed to this article.