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Several netizens took to X recently to reveal that they were getting notified of TikTok getting shut down. The platform users of the latter shared screenshots that noted that the U.S. government was doing their best to have the application shut down. Meanwhile, many took to X to create hilarious memes about the situation.
X user @FearedBuck was one of the many who shared a TikTok notification that read:
“TikTok is at risk of being shut down in the US. Call your representative now.”
X user @prz_eme also shared a screenshot that revealed that Congress was supposedly planning a complete ban on the video-sharing platform. The screenshot also read:
“Speak up now- before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience.”
X user @randomN3rd_88 also shared screenshots of an article that revealed that a bipartisan bill titled Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act had received support from the White House. This bill will effectively ban the ByteDance-owned app, as it reportedly poses a security threat.
According to NPR, the White House was still working with lawmakers to ensure that the technical aspects of the bill would not hinder the process of the bill being officially passed.
It is worth noting that TikTok has not been officially taken off of app stores at the time of writing this article.
“Feels dystopian af”: Netizens take to X to react to possible TikTok shut down
X users found the video-sharing platform’s latest notification bizarre. Many seemed exasperated over the long-standing debate about the application being shut down. Some also seemed unaffected by the latest announcement. A few reactions read:
Spokesperson of the app reacts to the bill
Although ByteDance themselves have not publicly responded to the bill, the app’s spokesperson shared a statement which read:
“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they reply on to grow and create jobs.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also officially announced that the bill is “welcomed” by Joe Biden. She also claimed that the ban on the application is a step that will simply ensure that:
“ownership isn’t in the hands of those who may do us harm. This is about our national security, obviously.”
The White House has been concerned about the application for years now. In 2022, Biden signed a bill that banned the application on government phones.
A House committee is expected to give its vote on the bill tomorrow. If passed and signed into law, ByteDance would have approximately six months to pull away from TikTok.
