US congressional offices have told the BBC they are being deluged with calls from TikTok users about legislation that could see the popular app banned.
Callers range from teenagers to the elderly, and most are “really confused and are calling because ‘TikTok told me to'”, one Republican staffer revealed.
A Democratic staffer said the most aggressive and threatening calls their office received came from adult women.
So far, TikTok’s big mobilization appears to be backfiring.
Lawmakers and their staff say that the lobbying campaign has actually worsened the concerns they have about the app and its parent company ByteDance, and strengthened their resolve to pass the legislation.
The bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers, would mandate that ByteDance sell TikTok within six months, or TikTok would be removed from mobile app stores in the US.
The legislation is sailing through Congress, winning rare unanimous approval from a key committee, and the full House is expected to vote on it on Wednesday. President Joe Biden has said that he will sign it into law if it reaches his desk.