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Forward of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s much-anticipated testimony in the US Home of Representatives as we speak, the embattled tech agency performed a full-court press on Capitol Hill. This included paying to carry TikTok influencers head to head with their dwelling state lawmakers, their staffers, and journalists—and naturally, sharing their journey with their collective viewers of some 60 million followers.
TikTok coated journey, motels, meals, and shuttle rides to and from the Capitol for dozens of influencers, in accordance with the creators and the corporate itself. Every social media star was additionally invited to carry a plus one—whether or not they flew in from Oklahoma, hopped the Acela from New York, or drove in from their suburban Washington dwelling. TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown confirms that “TikTok coated journey bills for all creators and a visitor.”
“Any limitations to getting right here they helped cowl,” says Tiffany Yu, a Los Angeles-based influencer and incapacity advocate tapped to talk yesterday at a extremely orchestrated press convention underneath the Capitol’s majestic dome.
Whereas some influencers report paying their very own airfare to Washington, everybody we talked to took the free resort. It’s unclear exactly what of us had been supplied as a part of the journey to Washington, however seemingly everybody received one perk or one other. Past the greater than 30 influencers in attendance, together with their journey buddies, WIRED counted 10 different individuals who had been, in a method or one other, on the Capitol on behalf of TikTok.
“Greater than 150 million People, together with 5 million US companies, depend on TikTok to innovate, discover neighborhood, and assist their livelihoods,” TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown says. “A US ban on TikTok might have a direct affect on the livelihoods of thousands and thousands of People. Lawmakers in Washington debating TikTok ought to hear firsthand from folks whose lives can be immediately affected by their selections.”
The almost dozen influencers WIRED spoke with didn’t cover the truth that TikTok introduced them to Washington to assist the corporate. (The plan was first reported by Politico and The Information.) “They took us right here, however we’re not being paid,” says Jorge Alverez, a psychological well being advocate from New Jersey. TikTok “paid for transportation—that’s additionally public info.”
Alexandra Doten, an professional in area communications who goes by @astro_alexandra on the app, is predicated close to Washington, DC. However she says she additionally obtained assist from the corporate. “I received the resort too!” she says. “I don’t know. They simply shuttle me there.”
Whereas Doten was capable of meet together with her congressman, Maryland’s Glen Ivy, this week, the spotlight for her was assembly astronaut-turned-senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. She additionally received a real style of life on the Capitol when the state’s different senator, unbiased Kirsten Synema, despatched a staffer to fulfill with the influencers on her behalf. It’s unclear if their goodwill tour will sway any of TikTok’s numerous congressional critics, who declare the app poses a menace to US nationwide safety.
Chew is the most recent in a line of Massive Tech executives who’ve needed to face hostile (if usually uninformed) lawmakers. However in contrast to Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg or Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Chew is the one CEO whose know-how is banned on US authorities units or has been accused of being a puppet for the Chinese language Communist Get together (CCP).
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