As TikTok bill steams forward, online influencers put on their lobbying hats to visit Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok.

The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok's Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers began a two-day advocacy event in support of TikTok, which arranged their trip ahead of a House floor vote on the legislation on Wednesday.

But unlike a similar lobbying event the company put together last March when talks of a TikTok ban reached a fever pitch, this year’s effort appeared more rushed as the company scrambles to counter the legislation, which advanced rapidly on Capitol Hill.

“If they ban it, I don’t know what it will do” to the business, Summer Lucille, a TikTok content creator with 1.4 million followers who is visiting Washington this week, said in an interview arranged by the platform. “It will be devastating.”