TikTok Increases Lobbying Spending amid Pressure in the USA

ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, spent a record $2.1 million on lobbying in the US in the second quarter.

ByteDance political lobbying spending was up 130% from the first quarter and the first time it’s topped $2 million in a single quarter.

During the quarter, ByteDance interacted with both chambers of Congress and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State and the Executive Office of the President.

The company lobbied on the American Innovation and Internet Choice Act, a key antitrust bill, and two versions of a major funding bill aimed at making America more competitive against China and several Internet privacy bills, and so on.

US authorities have come under pressure over the possibility that the company could hand over data to China. And for good reason. The company admitted that TikTok employees from China had access to personal information of US users, violating the regulations. The US part of the service was localised, meaning it was moved to Oracle's cloud infrastructure in the country, and TikTok head of security announced his resignation.