According to an announcement on Monday, TikTok has gained an additional 50 million monthly active users in the United States, bringing their total to 150 million. This is an increase from the 100 million monthly active users they reported having in 2020.
Prior to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s scheduled testimony on Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Chinese-owned app has verified the number of its users.
Bipartisan legislation that would enable President Joe Biden to ban TikTok on national security grounds has received the support of six additional U.S. senators as of Friday. Recently, TikTok revealed that the Biden administration had demanded that its Chinese owners sell their share in the app or face the possibility of a U.S. prohibition.
TikTok is encountering mounting scrutiny in Washington, with several members of Congress urging for the app to be banned over concerns that user data from the U.S. could be accessed by the Chinese government. As of September 2021, TikTok has reported having over 1 billion monthly users worldwide.
Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a co-sponsor of the legislation that seeks to provide the administration with more authority to ban TikTok, expressed doubt about the safety of TikTok’s U.S. data during a breakfast event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
“This notional idea that the data can be made safe under (Chinese Communist Party) law, just doesn’t, doesn’t pass the smell test.”
TikTok has stated that it has invested over $1.5 billion in implementing strict data security measures and has denied any allegations of spying and said “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
The recently disclosed figures indicate the app’s immense popularity, particularly among younger Americans. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo cautioned that banning TikTok could have significant political implications, stating, “from a political standpoint, you’re essentially forfeiting every voter under 35, indefinitely.”
A number of TikTok content creators are scheduled to visit Washington this week in an effort to advocate against the app’s potential ban.