Tick tock, TikTok

Hi there, it’s Alex in Los Angeles. Members of Congress are getting impatient with viral-video mobile app TikTok. But first...Today’s must-r [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi there, it’s Alex in Los Angeles. Members of Congress are getting impatient with viral-video mobile app TikTok. But first... Today’s must-reads: • Tech companies are [giving money to election deniers]( again • Meme-stock influencers were [charged in a $114 million fraud]( • Amazon [pledged big investments in Alexa]( despite job cuts Got a minute? We’d love your input on Bloomberg Tech and how we can best serve you. [Please take this short survey](“�€). Going after TikTok After months of sounding off against TikTok, US Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, has formally [proposed]( banning the app in the US through a bill he’s leading with a group of bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate. They’re concerned about the platform’s ownership by a Chinese company and whether the government in Beijing can access American users’ data or influence the content they see in their feeds. The introduction of a bill doesn’t mean it’s a done deal. After the lame duck period, Republicans will have control of the House of Representatives, giving Rubio a friendlier audience to get it passed in that venue. While a number of Democratic senators have voiced national security concerns about TikTok, it’s notable that there was no co-sponsor from that party, making it unclear how tough the road to passing would be in the Senate. But it comes at a time of apparent impatience from lawmakers with a federal national security review of the app that’s dragged on for months. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a government panel that focuses on risks posed by foreign control of domestic businesses, has been working on a compromise meant to protect consumer data – a process that in recent weeks has been stalled at the Justice Department and faced open criticism from the FBI. Already, the Senate on Wednesday passed legislation to ban TikTok from government devices. To go into effect, that bill would have to pass in the House and be signed by President Joe Biden. With the TikTok detractors moving from talk to proposed action, it’s worth considering who has the most at stake if the app is blocked in the US. - TikTok parent company ByteDance Ltd., clearly: The US is TikTok’s biggest market, with more than 136 million of its billion users, according to Statista. - The next generation of influencers: The industry is growing so fast that three-quarters of people who post on social media as a revenue-generating side gig started making money only in the last year, according to a study by Adobe. TikTok’s made the possibility of being social media famous as alluring as ever because anyone can go viral, even if you don’t have a large audience. Users can rack up millions of views on TikTok from just one video as long as the algorithm prefers what you’re posting, freeing people from the need to cultivate a large fanbase in order to be seen, as is the case on Instagram and YouTube. One in four Gen Z Americans wants to be an influencer, according to [HigherVisibility](. And I don’t see content creators getting the same sort of economic support that the Biden administration has lent others affected by concern over Chinese tech power, such as American chipmakers. - Pro-competition advocates (who aren’t China hawks): Social media firms have loud critics in Washington, concerned about the companies allowing misinformation on their platforms, prioritizing profit over user safety, and being a place where fragile minds are influenced. Regulators have sued Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc., alleging the company is a social media monopoly that’s engaged in anticompetitive conduct. While TikTok has undoubtedly stolen attention and ad dollars from Meta, it has provided a [counterpoint]( to the argument that Facebook and Instagram have no competition (the FTC has said that TikTok is technically not a competitor, a point fervently contested by Meta). - The Utah Department of Transportation: Hear me out. On Monday, you could’ve gotten both a laugh and a winter weather road closure update from the @utahdot account, which had amassed an impressive 3.1 million likes and more than 123,000 followers on the app. Fans would argue the account succeeded in getting young people to care about what a stodgy government agency is doing, through sometimes-irreverent posts featuring a snowplow squad, a dancing Shrek, or a new wildlife bridge featured alongside trending sentimental music. Today, that account is no more. Utah joined states like Texas and Alabama in banning TikTok from government devices due to security concerns. In my casual scrolling on the platform, I’ve seen three videos mourning the loss of @utahdot. State officials clearly felt the need to act in absence of any move from the federal government, but it gives a taste of what type of engagement with official channels would be missing if TikTok were to be banned. —[Alex Barinka](mailto:abarinka2@bloomberg.net) Today in Twitter Elon Musk’s Twitter is a Shakespearean psychodrama set in Silicon Valley. He’s [ruling his newest acquisition]( the way he rules the rest of his empire: impulsively, erratically, vindictively, loudly, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Twitter suspended the account tracking Musk’s jet [and one used by the man behind it](. A former employee accused of spying gets [three and a half years in prison](. Get fully charged Binance’s CEO warned staff of a bumpy road ahead in crypto. “[Rest assured](,” he wrote, “this organization was built to last.” A plan to build a $19 billion chip factory in India is [struggling to find investors](. New York’s Uber and Lyft drivers aren’t getting a pay raise this holiday season after a [judge temporarily blocked planned increases](. The Giving Pledge website removed Sam Bankman-Fried [after the FTX founder was arrested](. The meditation app Headspace cut 50 jobs, representing [about 4% of staff](. Phil Spencer, the Microsoft executive who negotiated the biggest deal in the company’s and video game history, is [featured on this year’s Bloomberg 50](. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more, every Sunday - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business, delivered on Friday - [Cyber Bulletin]( for exclusive coverage on the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage, sent every Wednesday Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](