John,

TikTok is set to be banned this Sunday,¹ and we have to act fast. Not because TikTok is a platform without problems, but because this ban is a made-for-TV display of xenophobia and censorship, not a meaningful step toward protecting our digital rights. We deserve so much better.

A group of senators just introduced a bill that would delay the ban, buying us critical time. Will you urge your lawmakers to co-sponsor this bill, stop the TikTok ban, and pass comprehensive privacy and antitrust laws to rein in Big Tech instead?

TAKE ACTION

We’ve been screaming from the rooftops for over a year that banning TikTok is a violation of free speech and a distraction.² Now, Senator Ed Markey has introduced the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act that would delay the ban for 270 days, buying us crucial time for stopping it altogether and refocusing on the substantive privacy protections we need.³

But why save TikTok? Isn’t this a win against Big Tech? Not quite:

• TikTok has the same data-scraping and algorithmic manipulation problems as every other Big Tech company, including Meta, Google, and X in the US. But lawmakers only seem to care now because TikTok’s Chinese parent company makes it an easy target. Banning TikTok does nothing to protect us from spying from any other app or government, including our own.²

• Banning an entire platform wholesale is a clear violation of the First Amendment. With TikTok confirming it will eventually become largely inoperable after January 19th,⁴ this ban risks kicking over 170 million users off of a platform they use to express themselves, setting a dangerous precedent.

• It’s no secret that building community and sharing ideas on TikTok has driven thousands of young people to take action in support of the Palestinian people and other causes powerful CEOs and lawmakers deem unsavory. This seems to have influenced the ban’s proponents,⁵ making censorship of the app all the more concerning.

• Lawmakers could be doing so much more to comprehensively protect our privacy: passing a national data privacy protection bill, busting Big Tech monopolies, and pursuing real algorithmic justice without relying on censorship.⁶ Choosing to single out TikTok instead is a refusal to take our privacy seriously.
  

This fight is about more than just TikTok. But if we let lawmakers shirk their responsibilities while engaging in needless censorship, we only end up further away from the privacy and safety we deserve. Can you join us and take action now before it’s too late?

STOP THE BAN

Thanks for your help, John. To stay updated on this, you can join our Urgent Actions Signal chat⁷ or check for updates at DontBanTikTok.com.

In solidarity,

Alex at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

1. Axios: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/13/tiktok-ban-timeline

2. CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/tiktok-ban-congress-privacy-law-greer-ctpr/index.html  

3. Sen. Markey calls on lawmakers to extend the deadline on TikTok ban: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2025-01-14-sen-markey-calls-on-lawmakers-to-extend-the-tiktok-ban-deadline/

4. USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2025/01/13/tiktok-fate-one-week-ban/77670356007/

5. The Pro-Israel Techies Who Got TikTok Banned: https://matzko.substack.com/p/the-pro-israel-techies-who-got-tiktok

6. Don’t Ban TikTok: https://www.dontbantiktok.com

7. Urgent Actions Signal Chat: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/signal