A growing number of U.S. senators and representatives are raising alarms about the potential for Americans to have their personal information end up in the hands of the Chinese government through ByteDance, the company that owns the social video app TikTok.
In August 2020, former President Donald Trump sought to block the app from U.S. phones by issuing an executive order that was later blocked in court and then rescinded by the Biden administration in June 2021. More recently, President Biden signed into law legislation from Sen. John Hawley (R-Mo.) that bans TikTok from being installed on federal devices. Hawley has also proposed the No TikTok on United States Devices Act that would block that app from all U.S. phones and devices, as well as prohibit anyone in the U.S. from doing business with ByteDance.
Although the push against TikTok has mainly come from Republicans, some Democrats also appear to have concerns. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that banning TikTok is “something that should be looked at.” In the House, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) has signed on to legislation to ban the app in the U.S., saying a press statement that “revelations surrounding the depth of TikTok’s ties to the CCP highlight the urgency of protecting Americans from these risks before it’s too late.”
Amid this pressure from lawmakers, ByteDance has increased its lobbying presence in Washington. According to OpenSecrets, ByteDance has spent more than $13.4 million on lobbying the federal government since 2019, including $5.3 million it spent last year, a new record for the company.
So far, however, the company has not facilitated political donations to senators, representatives, and candidates for Congress, likely because of its status as a foreign company. Campaign finance law prohibits foreign nationals from making political contributions, although it allows U.S. divisions of foreign companies to form PACs that can raise money from U.S. employees. ByteDance is in the process of forming a U.S. division for TikTok in partnership with Oracle, but so far it has not formed a PAC that it could use to donate to candidates. The company’s only known political donations to date have been given to groups that supports state attorneys general candidates.
But according to a recent disclosure filed by ByteDance, the company has found another way to donate in the U.S. that could ingratiate them with the lawmakers who may end up voting on whether or not to ban TikTok. Since mid-2022, ByteDance has donated at least $410,000 to think tanks and nonprofits that are affiliated with members of Congress. The donations were made in honor of the members of Congress, according to the disclosure.
The recipients of the largest ByteDance donations have been the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which each received $150,000 from the Chinese company in December. The donations honor the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus, according to ByteDance’s filing.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization that says it is “dedicated to developing the next generation of Latino leaders.” According to its website the group “provides leadership, public service, and policy experiences to outstanding Latino/a/x students and young professionals, and convenes Members of Congress and other public officials, corporate executives, nonprofit advocates, and thought leaders to discuss issues facing the nation and the Hispanic community.”
The group’s board of directors includes six members of Congress, including its chairman Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.). TikTok Global Director of Public Policy Jesse Price has also been given a seat on the institute’s board. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute also has an advisory council made up of corporate lobbyists and dozens of members of Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (R-Texas).
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute names dozens of corporate donors on its website, but it does not disclose ByteDance as a donor.
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that says it “researches how policies affect Black communities, publishes legislative reports, and hosts an annual legislative conference.” The foundation’s board of directors is chaired by Rep. Terri Sewell (R-Ala.) and has seven House representatives as members. TikTok lobbyist Price sits on The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s corporate advisory council.
Few members of Congress have publicly put forth a defense of TikTok or ByteDance, but Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) recently spoke favorably on CBS “Face the Nation” about how the company was working with U.S. intelligence officials to make sure the Chinese government could not use it to gain access to Americans’ personal data. Booker is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. A TikTok spokesperson recently pointed to Booker’s comments when asked by the Washington Post if the company has gained any allies in Washington.
ByteDance also made a donation of $75,000 in December in honor of the 68 members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to the nonprofit Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies. The group’s website lists dozens of corporate sponsors in multiple tiers, presumably corresponding to the amount they have donated, but it does not list ByteDance as a donor.
In July 2022, the disclosure indicates that ByteDance donated $35,000 to the Republican Party-aligned think tank Ripon Society in honor of the members of the group’s honorary congressional advisory board, which includes 13 U.S. senators and 54 House members. The Ripon Society is named after the town where the Republican Party was formed–Ripon, Wisconsin–and says on its website that its goals include promoting the idea of “keeping our nation secure.”
Sludge asked the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies, and Ripon Society for comment on their ByteDance donations, but none of the groups responded.
The donations that ByteDance disclosed in the second half of last year are far larger than any donations it has disclosed previously. In the first half of last year, it donated $10,000 to sponsor the Taste of the South congressional gala, and in 2021, ByteDance donated to the gala and $20,000 to House Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) research and scholarship foundation.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has recently been working the halls of Congress to try and convince lawmakers that it is safe to continue allowing Americans to use the app. He is scheduled to testify to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23. According to a notice on the committee’s website, Chew is expected to discuss “TikTok’s consumer privacy and data security practices, the platforms’ impact on kids, and their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.”
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