The US TikTok ban is 'un-American' and infringes on free speech, says father of star Charli D'Amelio
15 January 2025, 16:11 | Updated: 15 January 2025, 16:14
The father of TikTok star Charli D'Amelio as called the pending app ban 'Un-American' and an infringement on free speech
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Marc D’Amelio, a 56-year old businessman, and father of TikTok sensations Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, has spoken out against the US TikTok ban.
His daughters are two of the app's biggest stars, famous for their dance videos, as Charli has 155 million followers, and Dixi 55 million.
In an interview with The Times, he said: “It’s so un-American for our government to ban something that has been such an important part of the average American citizen’s life — having a platform for free speech, and protecting our First Amendment rights.”
He added: “I just think it’s ridiculous that our government is banning it.”
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President Biden's ban of the app is due to fears that China is using it to collect data on tens of millions of American citizens.
The ban is due to come into effect on Sunday 19th January.
Marc argued: "If somebody in China knows my whereabouts, or knows that I watch this kind of content, no one’s been able to articulate how that will affect me in any way.
“And if the government is going to protect us from that, are they protecting us from every other platform that could spoon feed us information? If we’re going to do that, let’s do it for all platforms and not just single out TikTok.
“I can’t understand why they are doing this, with no direct proof of what they talk about as a national security threat.
"Republicans and Democrats in the United States actually can’t agree on anything, and they happen to agree on this bill. That makes me very concerned that there is a reason that they don’t want the average person to have access to the free speech that TikTok gives.”
Forbes, via The Times, reported that in 2022 the D'Amelio sisters earned more than $70 million (£57 million) since 2020, through using their online fame to promote products for Amazon, Prada and Abercrombie.
Marc said: “We’ve been on TikTok for almost five years now, starting when it was in its infancy, so we have been able to leverage all of the positive things that we got from TikTok with other platforms.
“For anyone, for half of their business or their potential following to disappear would be impactful. I do think we’re blessed and lucky to have been able to be involved with TikTok for five years.
“I’m more concerned about the people who are new, and have used the platform to help their small business. And I’m concerned about these smaller creators, that depend on TikTok for income. For that to be shut down, when maybe they haven’t had the longevity on the platform we’ve had, is sad.”
Charli D'Amelio has diversified her career. She won 'Dancing With the Stars', has written several books, and is now in the Broadcast musical '& Juliet'.
Dixie D'Amelio has released singles with Wiz Khalifa and Demi Lovato.
Marc admitted, to The Times, that he is not concerned about his family's future.
