Why TikTok’s Hearing Was Different
Most DC insiders think Thursday’s hearing increased the chances of the app being banned. I’m not so sure.
I am back in DC on this beautiful Sunday afternoon recovering from my trip to Vegas to see Taylor Swift. It was easily one of the best concerts I’ve attended, ranking up there with Garth Brooks and Eric Church at the Anthem in DC the day after he lost out on entertainer of the year. I have no idea how much of my readership are Swifties or not, so I’ve put some pictures at the very bottom, and you can see some video on my Facebook profile. If you want more details or tips for when you go, please reach out!
I wasn’t going to write about the TikTok hearing again this weekend, but I think that while the actual hearing was pretty bad for the app - their strategy before and after the hearing is going to make banning harder - not easier - for Congress and the Biden administration.
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Now, I love Punchbowl News. It’s one of my must-read newsletters every single day. No one covers the hill like them, but I think they missed the mark a bit on their TikTok analysis. Here are two of the headlines they ran:
TikTok walks right into a buzzsaw
How TikTok Flopped
And then on Friday, for their Punch Power Matrix, they had Reps McMorris Rodgers and Pallone at the top for pulling off the best hearing of the 118th Congress so far (that’s, um, quite the statement) and Chew at the very bottom saying his testimony was an “unmitigated disaster.”
No question that it was not a good hearing for TikTok. Chew had no friends, nothing he could say would convince them of anything, and I’m sure his staff wishes he had rephrased some of his responses. But we knew all of this going in.
It was also yet another hearing where Congress showed its ineptitude at understanding how any of these platforms work. You would think that by now, we could get better hearing questions than the ones we still get in these tech hearings. I’m so flabbergasted as to why Punchbowl thinks it’s the best hearing of the 118th Congress so far. Is it because it was bipartisan in its skepticism of TikTok? If so, that’s a pretty low bar.
Where things get interesting is how TikTok managed the post-hearing spin. An area I don’t think Congress was ready for.
First, the polls were showing that TikTok users were less supportive of a ban than those that don’t use the app - that’s not that shocking, but worth paying attention to.
Next, is when I started seeing content from influencers about the hearing as I scrolled through TikTok and Instagram. The Washington Post headline - in the Style section 🧐 - says it all about their impression: “For TikTok creators, the vibes in Washington were … not immaculate.”
Sidenote: Yes, I am on TikTok. I haven’t posted, but I firmly believe that if I’m going to analyze what a platform is doing, I need to be on it. I understand the risks. Plus, the content there is so much more entertaining than on any other platform.
Other than people making fun of the occasional one-liner from a member of Congress, I don’t remember influencers jumping to defend Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube in this way. Now granted, none of those apps were facing bans, but it’s still noteworthy. Fast Company pulled together TikTok users’ favorite moments, as did Axios. BMothePrince had two of my favorite ones (I’m linking to YouTube clips since I know many of you might not want to watch them on TikTok). One has a particularly devastating point - that Congress was spending more time trying to ban TikTok than keeping guns out of schools. 😬
Third, some of the more younger members of Congress are coming out against a ban - the most recent being Ocasio-Cortez over the weekend. The Washington Post’s editorial board also said Biden should resist a ban. Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute reminded people that a ban could violate the first amendment. Former Twitter Trust and Safety lead Yoel Roth said a ban could actually undermine national security more.
In addition, many have been pushing Congress to stop focusing just on TikTok and instead the need for a larger privacy bill. Alex Stamos encompassed it well, “Regardless of how the US decides to move forward with TikTok (whether it’s requiring ByteDance to sell it, banning it completely or something else), it will do little to stop the growth of Chinese surveillance and influence, and the Biden administration and Congress need to take the wider view.”
Finally, Semafor reported that “the viewership of Chew's testimony was higher on TikTok than on some other platforms like Twitter and YouTube.”
The reason that stat stands out to me is an experience I had in 2016. It was the third Presidential debate in Las Vegas. The Trump campaign was doing Facebook Lives in the spin room and then started streaming the actual debate. It turns out they paid the fee to get the feed. No other campaign had done that before, to my knowledge. I looked, and they were getting more viewers than ABC News’ feed on the platform was - and Facebook was even promoting that one.
That, plus seeing all of the Trump signs in Wisconsin that October, made me wonder if he could win.
I’m getting the same feeling about TikTok. I still think they’ll be forced to divest - which will be a real test for the Biden administration in dealing with China since the Chinese government said they’ll oppose such a sale.
And, while Chew may not have done great in the actual hearing, TikTok’s strategy before and after could end up being a template for other tech companies because even if they don’t admit it, Members of Congress don’t like being made fun of - especially by a new crop of voters they’re going to need in less than a year.
What I’m Reading
NOTE: The outlet and headline were pulled using ChatGPT, but based on reader feedback I’m back to writing the summaries myself.
Politico: MEPs cling to TikTok for Gen Z votes European Parliament politicians and groups aren’t ready to give up on TikTok yet.
Apptopia Blog: What India’s TikTok ban could mean for US social mediaAfter the app was banned in India, Instagram was the biggest winner.
Axios: TikTok ban spreads globallyA handy map of where the app is banned around the world.
The Washington Post: We want objective judges and doctors. Why not journalists too?Back in January former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie wrote a piece about newsrooms moving beyond objectivity. In this piece, Marty Baron - a colleague of Downie’s - writes a counter piece that is very much worth reading. As I did, I couldn’t help but want to replace the word journalists with technologists. This line particularly resonated with me, “I believe our profession would benefit from listening more to the public and from talking less at the public, as if we knew it all. I believe we should be more impressed with what we don’t know than with what we know — or think we know. In journalism, we could use more humility — and less hubris.”
The Hill: Politicians must be held accountable to FCC's new anti-spamming rulesHate those political spam texts? Scott Goodstein does too and thinks politicians should be held to the same spamming rules as everyone else.
The Guardian: Rahul Gandhi found guilty of defaming Narendra Modi in 2019This is a huge story because Gandhi is the leader for the Congress Party - Modi’s biggest competitor. If he goes to jail that might leave Congress scrambling for a new leader going into the 2024 elections. 👀
Calendar
🚨🚨 NEW 🚨🚨
Summit of Democracy is this week with A LOT of programming. Here’s some to follow:
The Summit of Democracy site has links to official and civil society led programming.
Live from the Freedom Online Coalition: How the FOC works for people around the world
Fostering a fourth democratic wave: A playbook for countering the authoritarian threat
Championing Digital Democracy for All
We also have a new hearing on the hill where Members will “bring in several people who’ve been silenced by Big Tech.”
March 28, 2023 - U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee: Chairs Rodgers, Latta Announce Hearing on Protecting Americans from Big Tech Censorship
Topics to keep an eye on:
Facebook 2020 election research
TV shows about Facebook - Doomsday Machine and second season of Super Pumped
March 29, 2023 - Bipartisan Policy Center: Demystifying the Cambridge Analytica Scandal Five Years Later
March 29, 2023 - Axios: What’s Next Summit
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan is speaking
March 2023 - Antigua and Barbuda Election
March 2023 - Federated States of Micronesia Election
March 2023 - Guinea Bissau Election
April 30, 2023 - Benin Election
April 30, 2023 - Paraguay Election
April 2023 - Andorra Election
April 2023 - Finland Election
April 2023 - Montenegro Election
May 7, 2023 - Thailand Election
May 10 - 12, 2023 - All Things in Moderation Conference
May 15-16: Copenhagen Democracy Summit
June 5-9: RightsCon
June 24 - June 30: Aspen Ideas Festival
June 24, 2023 - Sierra Leone Election
June 25, 2023 - Guatemala Election
June 25, 2023 -Turkey Election
TBD June: DFR Lab 360/OS
July 11-13, 2023 - TrustCon
July 2023 - Cambodia Election
July 2023 - Timor-Leste Election
July 2023 - Zimbabwe Election
August 6, 2023 - Greece Election
August 2023 - Eswatini Election
August 2023 - First GOP Presidential Primary Debate
September 27-29, 2023: Athens Democracy Forum
TBD September: Atlantic Festival
TBD September: Unfinished Live
September 2023 - Mauritania Election
September 28-29, 2023 - Trust & Safety Research Conference
October 8 - 12: Internet Governance Forum - Japan
October 10, 2023 - Liberia Election
October 12, 2023 - Pakistan Election
October 14, 2023 - New Zealand Election
October 22, 2023 - Switzerland Election
October 2023 - Argentina Election
October 2023 - Luxembourg Election
October 2023 - Oman Election
November 12, 2023 - Poland Election
November 20, 2023 - Marshall Islands Election
November 29, 2023 - Ukraine Election
November 2023 - Bhutan Election
November 2023 - Gabon Election
November 2023 - Rwanda Election
December 10, 2023 - Spain Election
December 2023 - Bangladesh Election
December 2023 - Democratic Republic of the Congo Election
December 2023 - Togo Election
TBD - Belarus Election
TBD - Cuba Election
TBD - Equatorial Guinea Election
TBD - Guinea Election
TBD - Madagascar Election
TBD - Maldives Election
TBD - Myanmar Election
TBD - Singapore Election
TBD - South Sudan Election - (Unlikely to happen)
TBD - Turkmenistan Election
TBD - Tuvalu
TBD - Haiti
July 15-18, 2024 - Republican National Convention
Taylor Swift Eras Tour Photos
