ByteDance is the company in China that combined with TikTok to spend $7 dollars so far this year. This is because they want to stop Congress from passing legislation that could harm the social media content in the USA.
According to some latest lobbying records, the ByteDance company alone spent a record $2.68 million on in-house TikTok lobbyists in the first 3 months of the year. The purpose of this amount is to target Congress and its Federal officials. Furthermore, ADImpact also reveals some stats of spending TikTok money for this purpose. TikTok spent more than $4.5 million on TV and online ads to fight against proposed laws that might ban the app.
Lobbying Targets: Congress and Federal Officials
According to some TikTok spokesman:”This expenditure reflects work we do to educate policymakers about how legislation could affect our community of 170 million American users.
Engagement with the Executive Office
The records reveal that TikTok officials lobbied Congress and President Joe Biden‘s executive office in the last quarter. The Executive Office of the President includes various departments like the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, among others.
House and Senate TikTok Legislation Status
On Saturday, the House approved new legislation related to TikTok, which, if signed into law, would give ByteDance about nine months to sell the social media app or face a U.S. ban.
The Senate plans to vote on the latest TikTok bill on Tuesday. The Senate initially passed a procedural vote on a foreign aid package that includes this new TikTok legislation. The successful outcome of this vote suggests that the package could soon be approved.
In order to divest the TikTok assets the House passed the same bill in March. The latest figures for in-house lobbying spending don’t include additional costs for hiring external consultants. According to a disclosure report, ByteDance paid veteran lobbyist David Urban $80,000 last quarter to lobby Congress against their March bill targeting the technology company.
This payment to Urban’s firm, LGL Advisors, is the highest ByteDance has paid them in a single quarter, as indicated by federal lobbying data.
There is no response from David Urban to request for comment. Furthermore, the representative from white also ignored the email. They also did not respond to the mail asking for the comment.
It is also said that the platform of TikTok spent a good amount approximately $400,000 since Jan. 1. This amount is spent outside of the lobbying firm in Washington.
Lobbying Expense From ByteDance
In the first quarter of 2023, ByteDance reached a new high in lobbying expenses, spending over $1.8 million, according to OpenSecrets, a group that tracks political spending. This marked the highest amount the company had invested in lobbying for any first quarter.
Throughout 2023, ByteDance and its social media platform, TikTok, poured over $8 million into lobbying efforts. This significant expenditure aimed to influence U.S. legislation and policymakers amid mounting concerns about TikTok’s data privacy and security issues.
These spending figures indicate that ByteDance and TikTok are intensifying their efforts to address growing legislative pressures in the U.S. Their lobbying investments underscore how critical it is for the companies to shape the policy landscape, especially as lawmakers debate bills that could restrict or ban TikTok’s operations.
The heightened spending reflects ByteDance’s commitment to influence key stakeholders and mitigate potential threats from Congress and regulatory bodies. As the legislative landscape evolves, tracking such spending provides insights into how major tech companies like ByteDance navigate the complex regulatory environment and seek to safeguard their interests in the U.S. market.
