The House overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday to force TikTok to split from its China-based parent company or face a nationwide ban in the United States – and some younger people on the app are asking: This is the issue that our deeply divided Congress can agree on these days?

There are “bigger issues” to tackle, some TikTokers said in videos published around the vote on the bill, which sailed to passage with a vote of 352-65.

A lack of affordable housing. Crushing student debt. Rising costs of health care. Inflation. These are a few of the challenges younger people on TikTok highlighted as more pressing than what to do about the popular video app, which TikTok says has 170 million users in the United States.

“Hey, United States government, can I ask what our priorities are right now?” one content creator quipped in a video about a possible ban that was circulating in the wake of the vote.

For some, the sweeping bipartisan rebuke underscored other issues important to them that continue to divide lawmakers, such as gun control, immigration, reproductive rights, climate change or the Israel-Gaza war.

“Millions of Americans struggling due to pay not equaling cost of living,” one app user wrote ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “United States: but TikTok.”

The legislation on TikTok came to a vote Wednesday unusually fast – highlighting growing fears in Congress about China’s influence, especially in a U.S. election year. It was approved last week by a 50-0 committee vote. While TikTok is incorporated in the United States, its ties to its China-based parent company, ByteDance, have long stirred U.S. fears that Chinese authorities may use the app to access Americans’ data or influence their views.

TikTok stresses it does not share U.S. user data with China, and critics have yet to present evidence to the contrary. TikTok has also denied claims of foreign interference on the app, which began as a teen sensation and is popular with young people and influencers. Content creators and activists have also argued a possible U.S. ban threatens livelihoods.

The bill is now in the hands of the Senate, where it has received two major endorsements but political barriers remain. It would give ByteDance half a year to sell the short-video platform – or face a ban on the Apple and Google app stores and U.S. web-hosting services.

Some senators have raised constitutional concerns about potentially infringing on rights to free expression and targeting a business operating in the United States. President Biden has said he would sign the legislation into law if it passes Congress.

“Get ready with me as we get silenced by Congress,” TikTok creator and comedian Pearlmania500 captioned in a reel before the House vote.

He said lawmakers struggle to agree on issues such as the minimum wage – “but when it comes to banning TikTok, line up, buddies,” he said. “Don’t you learn how to cook pasta right away.”

Polling shows young people are concerned about a range of issues ahead of the presidential race. According to a poll conducted by Suffolk University and USA Today this month, a 43% plurality of 18- to 34-year-olds said inflation and the economy would be the most important issues in their vote. For 15%, it was threats to democracy, and 12% each cited abortion and immigration. Other issues were in the single digits.

An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted in January found 31% of adults favored the ban of TikTok, 35% opposed it, and 31% neither favored nor opposed it. Opposition was higher among 18- to 29-year-olds. That poll found that TikTok’s daily users were more likely to be under 30, women and non-white.

A Washington Post poll published last year found that the biggest predictor of who backs a TikTok ban was whether they actually use the app.

Some users seemed to be preparing for the prospect of a ban, sharing their other social accounts for people to follow. Others tried to organize calls to Senate.

TikToker Ivebentraveling, who shares travel content, said lawmakers should consider the various repercussions, including on community building and small-business earning income. “This is a call to action,” he said, urging followers to call their senators and oppose the legislation.

“This is my own volition as a breathing, voting member of the United States of America,” he added. “We as members of TikTok and as voting citizens have a little bit of a voice.”

TikTok itself had mounted a push to thwart the House’s consideration of the measure, urging U.S. users in a pop-up message to contact their representatives. The tactic prompted accusations from House leaders that the company was wielding its influence in an attempt to upend the congressional debate over its future. Congressional offices were flooded with calls, at times prompting offices to shut their phones, The Post reported.

One TikToker said he was “torn on the issue, because I think national security is super important,” agreeing with the U.S. ban of the app on government-owned devices, which is already in effect.

“But honestly,” he added, “banning it for everybody in America seems kind of excessive.”

Another joked that she could see one potential upside of a ban: It would at least help limit screen time.

 

Washington Post writers Jennifer Hassan, Emily Guskin, Cristiano Lima-Strong, Jacob Bogage and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.

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