GOP Senator Threatened Over TikTok Ban

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is facing murder threats from a supporter of TikTok over a bill aimed at forcing the sale of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled company or banning it in the U.S.

In a post to X, Tillis shared an audio clip of a voicemail he received.

“This is a voicemail my office received last night. TikTok’s misinformation campaign is pushing people to call their members of Congress, and callers like this who communicate threats against elected officials could be committing a federal crime,” he wrote.

“The Communist-Chinese aligned company is proving just how dangerous their current ownership is. Great work, TikTok,” he added.

In the audio clip shared by Tillis, an unidentified woman can be heard saying, “Okay listen, if you ban TikTok, I will find you and shoot you. That’s people’s job and that’s my only entertainment.”

“And people make money off there, too, you know. I’m trying to get rich like that. Anyway, I’ll shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces. Bye,” she added.

This is a voicemail my office received last night. TikTok's misinformation campaign is pushing people to call their members of Congress, and callers like this who communicate threats against elected officials could be committing a federal crime. The Communist-Chinese aligned… pic.twitter.com/X9uW03neqw

— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 20, 2024

Last week, the House passed a bill that could ban TikTok if parent company ByteDance does not divest from it in five months. While the Senate wants to write its own bill addressing the national security threat the social media platform poses to the United States, President Joe Biden has said that he will sign any legislation Congress passes over the app into law.

The company has repeatedly sent out notifications to all its users telling them Congress is “planning a total ban of TikTok” and asking them to put pressure on the legislative branch to “stop a TikTok shutdown.”

In a recent alert to users, the company reportedly said, “If the Senate votes to ban TikTok, this means you could lose your right to self-expression.”

Per The New York Post, the alert also gives users the information about how they can contact their state’s senators in order to send them messages.

While House lawmakers have reported receiving calls from TikTok users asking that they drop their effort to ban the app, the voicemail sent to Tillis is the first reported death threat, per WCNC News.