The great majority of House Republicans voted in favor of a bill that could ban TikTok in the US, even though former President Donald Trump had been against it.
The House of Representatives voted 352-65 to force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to remove the app or risk U.S. prohibition. Trump asked Republicans to vote “no,” and 15 did. A total of 197 Republicans cast votes “yes.”
Trump said on Monday’s episode of CNBC’s Squawk Box that he had backed a TikTok ban when he was president. But he said this week that if the app was banned, it could help Facebook grow.
“TikTok has a lot of good and bad things about it.” “What I don’t like, though, is that you can make Facebook bigger without TikTok. I see Facebook and a lot of the media as enemies of the people,” Trump said.
This month, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced bills that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it didn’t separate from ByteDance.
The House Select Committee on the CCP said in a press statement that the bill will also let the president name certain apps as “social media apps that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary—per Title 10—and pose a national security risk.”
The apps won’t be sold in U.S. app shops unless the corporations withdraw from the foreign enemy.
He told TikTok, “Break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose your American users,” in a statement. Gallagher is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP.
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Rep. Garcia Argues Against TikTok Ban: Impact on Small Businesses and Underrepresented Groups
Newsweek talked to Representative Robert Garcia, who voted against the bill. He said he understands people’s security concerns about TikTok, but they weren’t considering how it would affect the app’s 270 million daily users. He talked about how the app affects small business owners who use it to sell their goods and how it helps people from neglected groups talk to each other.
Newsweek reported that Representative Matt Gaetz, who opposed the bill, worried it was too “broad” and unchangeable.
“We ought to have the opportunity to present amendments and to have them voted on,” he said.
Before the vote, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also said she disagreed with the TikTok bill.
“While I don’t support ANY foreign interference in America, Democrats are creating a narrative that TikTok is going to ‘interfere in elections,’ so they can claim the 2024 election is rigged just like they did in 2016,” Greene said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
“This is why Democrats want to ban TikTok.” The Democrats are ready to shut down any social network they think is dangerous, even X and Truth Social….Free speech must be protected!”
TikTok had already urged U.S. users to phone their politicians to oppose the measure.
