WASHINGTON — Every House Republican from Wisconsin voted in favor of a bill that would force ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, to sell the app within six months or be banned from U.S. app stores. The legislation will now head to the Senate.
“I don't think courting the clicks of 17-year-olds should take precedence over allowing our foremost foreign adversary to dominate what is increasingly becoming the primary news source for Americans under the age of 30,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay.
The push has been led by Gallagher, who heads the special House committee investigating China. He said there are national security risks associated with TikTok, arguing the Chinese government could access users’ data or push content on the platform intended to influence them.
“The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend, and to have a company that is so deeply involved in people's personal information is not good,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien. “It's just that simple.”
Gallagher said the legislation is more about creating a structure to protect Americans from apps controlled by foreign adversaries, rather than targeting TikTok specifically. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, doesn’t buy that. He voted against the measure.
“The bill actually said ‘TikTok’ in the bill,” said Pocan. “A lot of people say a lot of things when they want to pass a bill. The reality is this one doesn't pass that smell test.”
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, also voted against the measure, saying she understands the national security concerns but “could not take the extraordinary measure of singling out a single social media platform, impacting the rights of millions of Americans.”
TikTok said banning the app would “trample” First Amendment rights and deprive small businesses from a platform they rely on. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, pushed back on those concerns.
“I think there's certainly some legitimate concerns there, but I do not believe the bill bans speech,” Tiffany said. “And so I think it gets around those First Amendment concerns by not banning speech by just saying, you need to divest, and you can continue to operate.”
The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he’ll review the bill but doesn’t like bans, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she supports the House's effort to eliminate the national security threat.