“TikTok is our most pressing concern?”: James Charles weighs in on the social media app ban bill at the 35th annual GLAAD Awards red carpet 

On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would lead to a potential nationwide ban of the popular app, TikTok. In response to this news, renowned social media influencer, James Charles, shared his views. As he walked the red carpet of the 35th annual GLAAD Awards, James was asked about the app being prohibited in the country, to which he replied:

“It’s the dumbest sh*t I’ve ever heard. It makes me so f**king mad. We are starving, people are dying. People are in jail for marijuana charges. We’re in a war that we should not be in the first place. And TikTok is our most pressing concern? I don’t think so.”

James Charles continued his rant, and bashed the politicians, as he pointed out how many bills take years to get passed, while the House of Representatives approved the TikTok ban bill in a short span of time.

James continued:

“It’s also infuriating and a test to our political system that the bill got introduced what, 5 minutes ago? And it was passed this morning. It’s already going to the Senate, where there are all sorts of bills that take weeks, months, and years and never get anything done to them. I don’t think so.”

The fiasco started after the US government expressed their concern over the short-video sharing app, TikTok, and stated that they feared that China could be stealing the data of US users from the platform. However, China's Foreign Affairs Ministry clapped back and warned the US government saying that the ban would “come back to bite” the country, as per BBC.

---

James Charles is one of the biggest beauty influencers on TikTok

In a report by Cosmetify in November 2023, James Charles was among the top 3 beauty influencers on TikTok, along with Kylie Jenner and Abby Roberts. While Kylie bagged the first spot, James Charles occupied the second position with almost 29 million followers.

TikTok has been a significant platform for influencers like James Charles, especially because the platform gave him a second chance at stardom, after being one of the most popular YouTubers in the late 2010s.

In 2016, James Charles became the first male brand ambassador for CoverGirl and later collaborated with many makeup lines like Morphe Cosmetics. He also won many awards for his work in the line of beauty.

On the other hand, Charles has also collaborated with several other public figures and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kesha, Addison Rae, and Bretman Rock. His TikTok videos receive millions of views, as he does his own makeup, and shares tips and tricks. Hence, he has a total of 1.2 billion likes on the platform.

However, the TikTok ban bill has now left influencers like James Charles in deep water, as the platform has immensely contributed to their fame over the past few years.

The bill being passed by the US government states that either TikTok should be separated from its parent company, ByteDance, or the platform would be banned from America.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the bill as 352 politicians voted in favour of it and only 65 were against the motion. However, China claimed that America alone has 170 million users on the app and called this ban “an act of bullying."