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TikTok could be days away from being banned in the US, but the company just hired a couple of Rhode Island lobbyists.
The company, whose Chinese parent company ByteDance has been ordered by President Joe Biden’s administration and lawmakers to sell its US assets by Sunday or face a nationwide ban, will pay $6,000 a month to Capitol Communication Group, the local lobbying firm run by attorney Nicholas Hemond and Peter Baptista.
It’s unclear what TikTok is seeking in Rhode Island, but it’s not uncommon for large companies to hire local lobbyists – Hemond and Baptisa also count Microsoft as clients. In Massachusetts, TikTok has retained Bay State Strategies Group for lobbying services.
The popular social media app is used by more than 170 million Americans – including thousands of creators who make a living from the short-form videos they produce and publish – but it has been labeled a national security threat by the Biden administration and Congress.
The fear among American officials has been that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over American user data. TikTok maintains that it has never provided American data to the Chinese government.
Incoming President Donald Trump initially backed a ban on TikTok in 2020, but he has since expressed support for the social media app, arguing that it is a “unique medium for freedom of expression.”
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that Trump is considering an executive order to allow TikTok to continue operating in the US, although the details were murky. The US Supreme Court could also weigh in on the ban before Sunday.
No word yet on whether Hemond and Baptista are also considered national security threats.
🤔 So you think you're a Rhode Islander...
What venue was nicknamed "Doorley's Dream" after former Providence Mayor Joseph Doorley? (You can find the answer below.)
Do you have the perfect question for Rhode Map readers? Don't forget to send the answer, too. Shoot me an email today.
The Globe in Rhode Island
⚓ On this week's edition of the Rhode Island Report podcast, Ed Fitzpatrick talks to Mario Monteiro, the namesake for a law that gives youthful offenders a chance at parole after serving 20 years in prison. Read more.
⚓ Closing off the Rhode Island State House rotunda prior to a protest aimed at Governor Daniel J. McKee’s State of the State address on Tuesday is part of an emerging “playbook” for muting dissent, First Amendment experts said Wednesday. Read more.
⚓ With less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Providence City Council is considering putting more limits into law on how city police can cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday, has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Read more.
⚓ Taylor Swift is apparently upgrading her Rhode Island digs. Read more.
⚓ Residents who’ve tried for seven years to stop a commercial-scale solar project near their homes lost the legal battle last week, when the Rhode Island Supreme Court denied their request to review a lower court’s decision allowing the project. Read more.
⚓ For the second time in less than a month, resident physicians in Rhode Island voted to unionize, calling for an end to doctors in the state being pushed beyond their breaking points without sufficient pay. Read more.
⚓ Home sales skyrocketed in the Ocean State in December – again.Read more.
You can check out all of our coverage at Globe.com/RI
Also in the Globe
⚓ President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to deliver stark warnings about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans' rights and the future of democracy. Read more.
⚓ Regularly eating red meat has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Now there’s fresh evidence tying some popular types of red meat to yet another health concern: it could be bad for your brain. Read more.
⚓ After the Celtics' disheartening 110-97 loss to the 10-win Raptors on Wednesday, there was a new, ominous air of frustration and urgency that has rarely surfaced around this team over the past two seasons. Read more.
⚓ Rhode Map readers, if you want the birthday of a friend or family member to be recognized Friday, send me an email with their first and last name, and their age.
⚓ Governor McKee will release his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 at 4 p.m.
⚓ The special commission studying land use in Rhode Island meets at 1:30 p.m. Here's the agenda.
⚓ A special commission that will make recommendations for updating the state's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act meets at 3:30 p.m. Here's the agenda.
🏆 Pop quiz answer
"Doorley's Dream" was the Providence Civic Center, which is now known as the Amica Mutual Pavilion. It opened its doors in November 1972.
RHODE ISLAND REPORT PODCAST Ed Fitzpatrick talks to Mario Monteiro about a new law that gives youthful offenders a chance at parole after serving 20 years in prison. Listen to all of our podcasts here.
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