When Congressman Alex Lee was sworn into office at age 25, he youngest He is the first member of the state legislature in nearly a century. The self-proclaimed “zoomer” from San Jose started using TikTok in 2020, and five years later, he continues to use the app to reach voters, distilling complex policy issues into bite-sized clips.

Lee, California’s first openly bisexual state lawmaker, has authored a bill to ban the sale of anti-aging skin products to minors and a California special effort to stabilize gas prices. He explains about Congress and posts in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Lee, whose follower count hovers just under 1,300, said he has been “mildly, somehow successful” on the app compared to his colleagues in Sacramento. “I’m not that much of a TikTok star.”

But he also explained how he’s using it strategically to avoid anything that would be “off-putting” or risk being stereotyped as a Gen Z lawmaker.

“There are ways to fire the youngest members who come across as disingenuous or childish, but I’m very cautious about that,” said Lee, who manages the account with the help of a small team. spoke. “That’s also why I avoid trendy things.”

The Supreme Court last week upheld a ban on TikTok enacted by Congress over national security concerns, and by Sunday users were blocked from the platform. Just half a day later, President Trump gave the company a 90-day extension, leaving Lee and a small but growing group of California politicians actively working on the app wondering what will happen next. is holding.

Sen. Scott Wiener, 54, a Democrat from San Francisco, has just under 15,000 followers and has mastered the art of collecting videos and increasing their views while making dry policies easier to understand.

“TikTok allows me, as an elected official, to connect with a lot of people that I wouldn’t otherwise connect with,” he told the Times. At first, the senator and his team tried to capitalize on the trend, but quickly pivoted to direct-to-camera videos, the popular TikTok style.

“These videos do well because people like authenticity,” he said. Although some posts “failed,” “the bottom line is that TikTok is a very powerful platform for communicating with people,” he added.

Some U.S. lawmakers have argued that TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to collect data on Americans and promote misinformation, but the company behind the short-form video app He strongly denies the allegations. Through an executive order, President Trump gave ByteDance three months to sell the app or face a ban.

Wiener said he understood the national security implications, but argued that a ban would be “tragic” because it would censor a common means of communication.

Under the ban, Weiner said he would likely pivot to Instagram. He also continues to think about hypotheses. For example, what would happen if tech billionaire Elon Musk bought TikTok?

“I’m worried that he’s going to ruin TikTok like he did with X,” Wiener said.

Countless U.S. government officials from across the aisle, from local politics to the executive branch, have a presence on the app, including some with 15 million followers who use the app in their campaign efforts. This includes Trump, who frequently used it. Vice President J.D. Vance has 2.3 million followers, and New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has 1.6 million followers. Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter has raised more than $500,000. The list goes on.

Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from Long Beach and one of the members of Congress who voted against banning TikTok last year, has been posting on the app since 2022. From his perspective, the app is no more dangerous than other forms of social media. media.

“We need a better way to look at all social media platforms and be more fair about how to make them safer,” Garcia said. “There’s nothing I’ve heard that makes me think TikTok is an imminent threat to national security.”

He has around 110,000 followers on TikTok, far more than any other platform where he maintains a presence.

“TikTok is a great way to reach people,” Garcia said. “It took a while, but it’s growing steadily. Some videos have gone viral online.”

One of Garcia’s most popular videos has been viewed more than 2.2 million times. The caption reads, “When you find out you’re the only member of Congress who has to sit on the same three committees as Marjorie Taylor Greene,” with a member of Congress in the background shouting, “No, no!” Contains a male voice.

Another online video shows Garcia saying “Welcome to the President Elon Musk” on MSNBC in December. It has been viewed 2.5 million times.

While the goal may be to thwart political opponents, other lawmakers say the app is more useful as a way to engage with voters and understand their needs.

Democratic Rep. Ash Kalra of San Jose, who uses TikTok, said he has “learned a lot” from the platform.

“Especially with the horrific fires in Los Angeles, seeing people’s first-hand experiences gave me empathy,” he said. “In that sense, it not only connects us to this shared human experience, but it also gives ordinary people a platform to air their political views.”

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from Silicon Valley, voted against banning TikTok and has used the platform over the past few weeks to gather signatures to stop the app from going dark. Four days later, the video had been viewed nearly 18 million times and the petition had more than 1 million signatures. Khanna, who has amassed 200,000 followers on the app, has since… introduced “Repeal of TikTok Ban Law” on Monday.

“The fight continues,” Khanna told the camera. “We need to make sure this app never goes dark again.”

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat who voted against banning TikTok, has amassed a sizable following on the app.

(Rep. Ro Khanna)

His co-author, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), warned in a statement that shutting down TikTok would be the first step down a slippery slope.

“They say this is about China. About security. About safety. That’s a lie. This is about control,” Paul said in a statement. “Governments that can silence platforms can also silence individuals. Today it’s TikTok. Tomorrow it’s your news.”

Oliver Heimson, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Information and Digital Studies Institute, is wary of how the ban will affect information access, especially for people under 24, who make up the majority of users.

“This is very important for young people who are receiving their news and learning about political candidates,” he says.

Heimson also worries that users will migrate to Instagram Reels, which is owned by TikTok competitor Meta. recently finished That fact-checking program. The platform will move toward crowdsourcing, similar to Musk’s approach to X.

“That’s concerning,” Heimson said. “They may understand something that isn’t necessarily true.”