TikTok creators spoke to TIME about their trip to Congress to save the app
in the Capitol rotunda, they spent Wednesday trying to meet with their representatives, talking with the press, and participating in at least one event during which congressional staffers could stop and speak with them during their lunch breaks.
On Wednesday, they joined a packed press conference with three Democratic members of Congress: Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, and Robert Garcia of California. Standing alongside the content creators, the lawmakers denounced a possible TikTok ban, suggesting that the focus on TikTok overlooked the problems with other social media companies in favor of stoking fears about China for political reasons.
But when it came to winning over lawmakers who have been more skeptical about TikTok, creators didn’t see the same immediate results. Spehar says she talked to New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s staff and “got a couple eyebrow raises… no change, necessarily, no statements from them, certainly nothing like that.” Alexandra Doten, who talks to her 2 million followers about the science of outer space, spoke with staff for her representative, Democratic Rep.
“I felt super blindsided by it, honestly,” says Spehar. “I have two letters on my desk handwritten from Joe Biden that say, ‘Your platform and the work you’re doing is so important.’ How is that true and you’re gonna let Marsha Blackburn call every TikToker a Chinese propagandist?”“Creators are frustrated,” says Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a creator with nearly 300,000 followers who helped start Democratic Massachusetts Sen.
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