When Congressman Alex Lee was sworn in at age 25, he became youngest State legislators for nearly a century. The self-described "Zoomer" from San Jose started using TikTok in 2020, and now, five years later, he continues to reach voters through the app, distilling complex policy issues into short snippets.

Lee, California's first openly bisexual state legislator, has posted in support of the LGBTQ+ community and explained legislation he authored to ban the sale of anti-aging skin products to minors and California's special session to stabilize gas prices.

Lee, whose follower count hovers around just under 1,300, said he's been "modestly successful" on the app compared to his colleagues in Sacramento. “I’m not that big of a TikTok star.”

But he also described how he uses it strategically, avoiding "cringe-worthy stuff" and anything that might stereotype him as a Gen Z legislator.

"There's a way to fire the youngest member, which makes you look unserious or childish, but I'm very cautious about that," said Lee, who manages his account with the help of a small team. "That's why I avoid fads."

The Supreme Court last week upheld a congressional ban on TikTok over national security concerns, and by Sunday users had been banned from the platform. Just half a day later, President Trump gave the company a 90-day extension, leaving Lee and a small group of California politicians active on the app wondering what happens next.

Sen. Scott Wiener, a 54-year-old San Francisco Democrat with just under 15,000 followers, has mastered the art of using video to attract views while also making sometimes dry policy digestible.

“TikTok really allows you as an elected official to connect with a lot of people you wouldn’t otherwise be able to connect with,” he told The Times. At first, the senator and his team tried to jump on the bandwagon, but he quickly pivoted to filming direct Videos to the camera, a popular TikTok style.

“These videos work well because people like authenticity,” he said. He added that some posts "failed," but "the bottom line is TikTok is an extremely powerful platform for communicating with people."

Some U.S. lawmakers have claimed TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to collect data on Americans and spread misinformation, a claim the company behind the short-video app has strongly denied. Through an executive order, Trump gave ByteDance three months to either sell the app or be banned.

Wiener said he understood the implications for national security, but said he believed a ban would be "tragic" because it would censor a popular method of communication.

Weiner said he might turn to Instagram under the ban. He's also been thinking about what-ifs. For example: What would happen if tech billionaire Elon Musk bought TikTok?

"I'm worried that he's going to ruin TikTok like he ruined X," Weiner said.

Countless U.S. officials from local politics to the executive branch have made appearances on the app, including Trump, who has 15 million followers and uses it heavily on the campaign trail. Vice President JD Vance has 2.3 million followers, and U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez from New York has 1.6 million followers. Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter's wealth exceeds $500,000. The list goes on.

A federal lawmaker who voted against a TikTok ban last year, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, has been posting on the app since 2022. In his view, the app is no more dangerous than other forms of social networking. media.

“There has to be a better way to look at all of our social media platforms and make them more equitably safer,” Garcia said. “I haven’t heard anything that makes me think that TikTok poses an imminent threat to national security. threaten."

He has about 110,000 followers on TikTok, far more than on his other platforms.

"TikTok is a great way to reach people," Garcia said. "It took a little while, but it has been growing steadily. Some of my videos have gone viral."

One of Garcia's most popular videos has been viewed more than 2.2 million times. "When you find out you're the only member of Congress who has to sit on three committees like Marjorie Taylor Greene," the caption read, with the congresswoman in the background and a man crying in her voice. Voice: "No, no!"

Another widely circulated video shows Garcia saying on MSNBC in December: "Welcome to the Elon Musk presidency." It has been viewed 2.5 million times.

While the purpose is sometimes to attack political opponents, other lawmakers said the app is more useful as a way to interact with voters and understand their needs.

Ash Kalra, a Democratic congressman from San Jose who uses TikTok, said he "learned a lot" from the platform.

“Especially with the horrific fires in Los Angeles, seeing people’s experiences firsthand and having empathy,” he said. “In this sense, it not only connects us to our shared human experience, but also provides a venue for ordinary people to express their political views.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from Silicon Valley, voted against the TikTok ban and has used the platform over the past few weeks to collect signatures to stop the app from being taken down. Four days later, the video has nearly 18 million views and the petition has collected more than 1 million signatures. Khanna amassed 200,000 followers on the app and has since introduce Monday’s “TikTok Ban Repeal Act.”

"The fight continues," Khanna told the camera. "We have to make sure this app never goes dark again."

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

"They tell you it's about China. It's about security. It's about security. That's a lie. It's about control," Paul said in a statement. "A government that can silence a platform can also silence a person. Today, it's TikTok. Tomorrow, it's your news."

Oliver Haimson, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan's School of Information and Digital Research, is wary of the ban's impact on access to information, especially for people under 24 who make up a large portion of users.

“This is very important for young people to receive news and learn about political candidates,” he said.

Haimson is also worried about users migrating to Instagram Reels, owned by TikTok rival Meta, which recently ended Its fact-checking program. The platform will move to a crowdsourcing approach, similar to Musk's X Method.

"It worries me," Heimson said. "They're getting things that may not necessarily be true."