2019 — an effort that appears to have fallen flat as lawmakers push proposals targeting the app's ownership by a Chinese company or even seek to ban TikTok in the U. But in private meetings, some of those same influencers told Bowman that there need to be regulations passed to protect their data across all social media platforms, including TikTok, while keeping the app intact, according to an aide familiar with the discussions. TikTok and ByteDance have also targeted Biden's executive office in the White House with lobbying since 2020, according to disclosure reports