Amid increasing scrutiny, TikTok has turned to a lobbying group with connections to the Biden administration, according to Politico.
Lawmakers in Washington have begun to hold the social media company’s feet to the fire, with a bill unveiled before the Senate on March 7 that poses a threat to TikTok being banned in the United States, according to CNBC. The Chinese company recently hired the consulting firm SKDK as government scrutiny has intensified, Politico reported Thursday. (RELATED: FCC Wants Apple, Google To Ban TikTok)
I’m really not sure at all that the White House understands how big the backlash to a “TikTok ban” would be. For an incomprehensibly large number of people including a disproportionate % of politically active young people this would be an outrage https://t.co/lLiwPMJQqf
— tom mckay (@thetomzone) March 9, 2023
According to OpenSecrets, ByteDance has spent over $13 million on lobbying since 2019 as the app’s popularity has grown. Many of those lobbyists have ties to Washington, including former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and other previous House Representatives who have left Congress. (RELATED: CCP-Linked TikTok To Crack Down On Election ‘Misinformation’, Partners With US Gov)
SKDK in particular has employed several figures who now work in President Joe Biden’s administration, according to Politico. Anita Dunn, one of the lobby group’s founding partners, currently works as a senior adviser to Biden. White House communications directors Kate Berner and Herbie Ziskend also previously held positions at SKDK, according to Politico.