By an overwhelming margin, the House on Wednesday passed legislation that would require TikTok to separate from its China-based ownership or face a potential ban in the U.S.
The vote was 352-65, with one member voting present and 14 members not voting. Fifteen Republicans and 50 Democrats opposed the measure.
Republicans voting against the bill were: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Warren Davidson of Ohio, John Duarte of California, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Thomas McClintock of California, Alex Mooney of West Virginia, Barry Moore of Alabama, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, David Schweikert of Arizona, and Greg Steube of Florida, according to the House clerk’s website.
Lawmakers have argued that data shared with TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, can be mined by the Chinese government because of China’s laws.
“Apps like TikTok allow the Chinese Communist Party to push harmful content to our youth and engage in malign activities, such as harvesting the location, purchasing habits, contacts, and sensitive data of Americans. Today’s bipartisan vote demonstrates Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attempts to spy on and manipulate Americans and signals our resolve to deter our enemies,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said, according to CNN.
“I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the president, so he can sign it into law,” he said.
The bill’s fate in the Senate is uncertain.
“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries explained why he and other Democrats backed the measure.
“It’s now appropriate for the Senate to evaluate the merits of the legislation. I don’t support a ban on TikTok. The legislation did not ban TikTok. It’s simply a divestiture of TikTok, so that this social media platform can be owned by an American company that would protect the data and the privacy of the American consumer from the latent foreign interests, like the Chinese Communist Party,” he said, saying he opposes actually banning TikTok
Well Done @SpeakerJohnson! Grateful to @HouseGOP and every Member of Congress who supported Bipartisan Passage of this legislation forcing the sale of China’s TikTok. I urge the Senate to protect the security and privacy of the American people, take up this legislation as soon as… https://t.co/OuTTjjIMGk
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) March 13, 2024
Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said he opposed the bill because it was not fair “single out” one company, according to NBC.
“I got a bunch of Chinese companies in my district. They make refrigerators and all kinds of stuff,” he said.
Mace, who also opposed the bill, said it went too far.
“It is not the role of government to ban apps from the app store. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that,” she said.
As the only member of Congress who has ever been banned from social media, I oppose today’s TikTok ban bill.
This bill would open Pandora’s box and create a slippery slope for future government censorship of Americans and our precious First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/I2jDTxjpjg
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 13, 2024
Paul Barrett, deputy director of New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, said the vote was a result of China and ByteDance not reading America’s mood, according to CNN.
“Faced with persistent bipartisan suspicion in the U.S., ByteDance and the Chinese government should have read the political signals more astutely and spun off TikTok as a stand-alone American company,” Barrett said.
“A broad U.S. ban would inhibit Americans from using TikTok to express themselves — an outcome that would limit free speech and make no one happy,” he said.
