GOP lawmakers are renewing their call for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned app TikTok after Usama bin Laden\u2019s 2002 \u2018Letter to America\u2019 went viral on social media and received sympathy from hundreds of young users.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The letter, published by The Guardian but taken offline Wednesday, blamed U.S. policies for the Sept. 11 attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We should ban it,\u2019 Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Sean Hannity Thursday. \u2018It tracks everything you do on your phone. It tracks everywhere you go, every text message you send, every email you write, and it\u2019s \u2014 all that information \u2014 all of it\u2019s available to the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s an espionage tool. It\u2019s a propaganda machine, and we ought to ban it.\u2019<\/p>\n
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called the app \u2018toxic\u2019 in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s outrageous that Chinese Communist Party controlled TikTok is pushing terrorist propaganda on American kids,\u2019 Cotton wrote. \u2018This toxic app should have been banned years ago.\u2019<\/p>\n
TikTok users reacted to the letter, and some said it changed their worldviews. Others went as far as to say they realized bin Laden \u2018was right.\u2019 Part of bin Laden\u2019s letter blamed America for supporting the \u2018Israeli oppression of the Palestinians\u2019 and \u2018the occupation\u2019 in the Holy Land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., condemned the trend on TikTok on Fox News Thursday, calling the sympathy \u2018absolutely disgusting\u2019 and \u2018further evidence that we need to ban TikTok or force a sale before a Chinese-controlled app, before the Chinese Communist Party, checkmates the free world by controlling the dominant media platform in America that can spread this dangerous, disgusting nonsense.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is time for a ban or forced sale before it is too late.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the trend gained some traction on TikTok, with 274 videos posted under the hashtag from Tuesday to Wednesday, a compilation of videos was uploaded again to X and gained over 35 million views,\u00a0surpassing the 1.85 million views originally gained on TikTok.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One TikTok influencer, Lynette Adkins, was banned from the app Friday morning after she shared a video of her reaction to reading the letter. She provided Fox News Digital with a statement.<\/p>\n
\u2018I read the letter after some other creators shared it and was surprised because I never knew it existed,\u2019 Adkins said. \u2018I posted it to my page so others could read it as well.<\/p>\n
\u2018I did not share the letter to promote any form of hate or violence against anyone, nor do I agree with the extremism in it. I was just shocked by what I had read and wanted to have a conversation about it with my followers. I was 3 in 2001 and was always taught 9\/11 happened because other people were jealous of our democracy in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Now that I\u2019m older and am able to learn about history beyond the narrative of mainstream media, I\u2019m realizing that there is more to the story. I think we all deserve a right to access the information being presented to us and form our own conclusions without subscribing to extreme or radical ideologies.<\/p>\n
\u2018The letter was taken off of The Guardian\u2019s site after being on there for over 20 years. My TikTok was banned as of this morning, and many people who are sharing the letter are getting their videos removed as well. If we live in a true democracy, I think we should be allowed to have open and peaceful conversations about what\u2019s happening in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n