Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has revealed that he received a death threat over the potential ban on TikTok, which is currently being debated in the Senate after passing the House with bipartisan support. On March 20, Tillis posted about the issue on X, formerly Twitter, sharing audio of a disturbing voicemail left for him at his office.
In the voicemail, a woman can be heard threatening to find the North Carolina senator and “shoot” him if he supports the TikTok ban. She claims that the social media company is “people’s jobs” and her “only entertainment,” before reiterating her threat to shoot Tillis and “cut [him] into pieces.”
Tillis accused TikTok of launching a “misinformation campaign” that’s “pushing people to call their members of Congress,” asserting that the company is “proving just how dangerous their current ownership is” with this campaign. He also reminded people that calling and threatening a member of Congress is a criminal offense that can result in jail time.
The senator’s comments refer to a message currently displayed on TikTok, prompting users to call their representatives and ask them to vote against the potential ban. The notification warns users that a ban would impact 170 million people in the US and that the “future of creativity and communities [they] love on TikTok could be shut down.” The message includes a red “call now” button, making it easy for users to contact their senators.
The video can be seen on X here.
As the Senate continues to debate the TikTok ban, a bipartisan group of senators is pushing for the declassification of some intelligence information provided to lawmakers in a closed-door meeting with intelligence agencies. The timeline for a floor vote remains unclear, and public opinion on the issue is divided, with a December Pew Research Center poll showing only 38% of Americans supporting a ban.
The death threat against Senator Tillis highlights the contentious nature of the TikTok ban debate and the potential for heated reactions from users who feel their access to the popular social media platform is being threatened.
