TikTok stars visit DC as creators become temporary lobbyists

WASHINGTON — In a hotel room Wednesday morning, Janette Ok, a fashion and lifestyle TikTok creator from Los Angeles, was preparing for a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. She ripped off the tag that dangled from one sleeve of her jacket and slipped on a pair of hot pink gloves that matched her heels.

Could you consider a more ergonomic shoe for the long day ahead?

“Anything for fashion,” he said.

Ms Ok, 26, was one of more than 30 TikTok stars who took part in an all-expenses-paid trip to speak on behalf of the platform amid rising TikTok tensions as the administration of Biden has lobbied TikTok’s Chinese ownership to sell the video app or face a possible ban in the United States. Singapore-based TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday.

ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, flew the creators (and their companions) first class to Washington and put them up in a luxury hotel for the week. On Tuesday, the group dined with Mr. Chew, who was featured in several videos posted that night.

On Wednesday morning, the leftovers from room service—a pink smoothie, lox, and eggs—sat at a table in Mrs. Ok’s room overlooking the Jefferson Memorial. She had brought a friend, Imani Carrier, a fellow creator.

Before joining TikTok in 2019, Ms. Ok had been steadily building a following on other social media platforms. On TikTok, she gained a million followers in six months. With that growth came opportunity. Some have been just plain fun, like meeting actor Michael B. Jordan. Others have been very remunerative. These days, she can charge up to $70,000 for a single-brand deal, she said.

“It’s like the new American dream,” he said of his experience, adding that his parents had immigrated from South Korea to Los Angeles.

Ms Ok also said she was not concerned about potential national security concerns being raised by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “Security and privacy are a number one priority for the app,” she said. “It’s the most important thing to them.” Critics of the platform say it could be used to give the Chinese government access to the personal data of its users in the United States.

Throughout the day, several other creators echoed TikTok’s talking points about what it says it’s doing to protect personal data, including a change earlier this year to route US user data through from Oracle, instead of servers in China. (In June, the company also said it would still keep backup copies of the data while it made the move.) Creators also leaned heavily on statistics the platform recently made public, including that 150 million Americans use TikTok, according to TikTok.

Tag left, heels on, Ms. Ok headed for a bus that would take her and her fellow creators to their first stop of the day.

“The bus, this brings back memories”, Joseph Duncana 20-year-old creator, noted that it was the last time he was in the nation’s capital for an eighth-grade field trip.

Taking on the role of de facto chaperones, TikTok representatives added to the field trip vibes as “Team TikTok” traveled from place to place, with bathroom breaks along the way.

Mr. Joseph said that he started making videos on the app in 2020, when he was a junior in high school. Now TikTok is his full-time job. “I’m concerned about the big picture as far as all technology companies are concerned,” he said. The idea that all social media apps, not just TikTok, should be better supervised and regulated was another soundbite the creators offered on Wednesday.

Mr. Joseph was sitting next to Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a 19-year-old Harvard University student and founder of the activist group. Gen-Z for change. The night before, on a private tour of the Capitol, Kohn-Murphy had filmed a video for her personal account. “Becoming the first person to say twink in the capitol rotunda,” the on-screen caption reads as Mr. Kohn-Murphy. Screams the word in the cavernous dome above.

At the first event on Wednesday, which took place in a rooftop space on Avenida Constitución, creators met with a small gathering of reporters to describe what TikTok has meant to them. Kenny Jarry, 81, said joining the app two years ago had fundamentally changed his life. A Navy veteran from Minnesota, Mr. Jarry now has over two million followers. Through a brand partnership, he got new teeth, he said, and his supporters also helped him crowdfund a new mobility scooter.

Ebony and Denise Nunez, lesbian mothers who have a family tik tok account with their three children, said they hoped the proposed TikTok ban would not pass. “You’d be taking our family,” Ebony said. They added that they had left previous careers to focus solely on creating content for the app.

Other creators also spoke in favor of TikTok, including several teachers who spoke about the importance of the platform for education, and Tiffany Yu, who emphasized how it has improved its reach as a an advocate for people with disabilities.

Many of those present took advantage of the scenic location of the press event overlooking the roundabout to film videos. Ms. Ok brought together various creators who lip-synced or danced to a part of Nicki Minaj’s “I’m Legit.” they did it in one take.

Elsewhere on the rooftop, Naomi Hearts, a 25-year-old creator known for her comedy and fashion content, filmed another video. “I had to fulfill my Elle Woods fantasy,” she said, referring to the “Legally Blonde 2” heroine who moves to Washington to seek a ban on animal testing on cosmetics.

From there, members of the group took Ubers to the Capitol. The building is usually packed with people walking around with phones attached to their hands, but the group of TikTokers, many of them laughing and filming as they strolled through the halls, offered a palpably different energy.

Ms. Hearts and a few others met with staff members from California Rep. Judy Chu’s office. “We talked about how TikTok impacts the community and the US in a positive way,” Ms. Hearts said after the meeting. She added that she thought Ms. Chu’s staff was “perceptive” but “didn’t give us much information.” Still, she said to herself, she was glad to talk about the part of her.

“I talked about my transition,” said Ms Hearts, who is transgender, noting that she often finds out about new laws on transgender issues through the app. “Just being able to exist and tell the youth, ‘It’s okay,’ I think is really important.”

Along with a few other creators, Ms. Hearts also visited the office of California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, whose district includes TikTok’s offices in Culver City, California. Ms Kamlager-Dove was not present at the meeting.

Cynthia Dew, a spokeswoman for TikTok, and other company representatives brought a group to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s New York office, not for an appointment, but for a chance to add to the Post-it message wall. that voters and fans have. left there.

“AOC… who is that?” said a TikTok creator as the group walked down the aisle.

“Wait, I need content” christina thompson35, he announced, pulling out a phone with a light attached to it and proceeding to record.

During lunch in the Longworth House office building cafeteria, several fans spotted Mrs Hearts. One stopped to ask for a photo. Ms. Hearts bound. “Save TikTok,” she cheered, using TikTok’s favorite catchphrase of the week.

“Maybe these politicians are mad because this food is disgusting,” Hearts joked later as the group ate at a table littered with leftover sandwiches, pizza, orange sodas and Funyuns.

The group attended two more meetings, the first with Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, the second with staff members from Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office. Then Ms. Hearts, only half jokingly, asked TikTok reps if her hotel had a spa and if the company would possibly look into a facial.

Asked if she would be among the TikTok creators attending Thursday’s scheduled hearing before the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, one creator said, “What hearing?” It was really hard to tell if she was joking. (Only a few creators in the group ended up going to the event in person.)

The last stop was a press conference at House Triangle, outside the Capitol, where a few creators gave short speeches alongside three elected officials, including Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, a staunch supporter of the app.

Several creators said they were tired and hungry. One seemed to be napping while he was sitting on a bench. Nearby, a rioter in a red cap reading “MAGA KING” repeatedly yelled, “TikTok is terrible!” Jamal Brown, a member of TikTok’s communications team, pulled him out of the area. (Mr. Brown was previously national press secretary for President Biden’s campaign).

As the group posed for photos, Ms. Hearts was nowhere to be found. A company representative rushed up the steps of the Capitol to pick it up.

She had been filming a TikTok. It would be posted in an hour.