The US House of Representatives voted 352-65 on Wednesday to stop the social media app TikTok from being used in the US unless the company that owns it, called ByteDance, agrees to sell it.
Majority of lawmakers representing districts in the Sacramento, Northern California and Central Valley regions think it’s not safe for Americans to use TikTok because the company is based in China. They are worried that the Chinese government could use the app to spread its own ideas and messages.
But not everyone agrees. Some say it’s not fair to pick on just one app. They believe TikTok is important for lots of people, especially those who might not have a voice otherwise, like people of colour and those in the LGBTQ community.
Most of the lawmakers in the House, from both the Republican and Democratic parties, voted to ban TikTok. They think it’s the right thing to do. Republican Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin; Doug LaMalfa, R-Shasta; and David Valadao, R-Tulare; joined with Democratic Reps. Ami Bera, D-Sacramento; Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento to support the bill.
Speaking at the floor of the House, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, defended the bill, saying “This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. It’s an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-tac-toe, a winner. A winner.”
But not everyone in the House agreed. Some Republicans, like John Duarte and Tom McClintock, voted against the ban. They think people should be able to choose for themselves if they want to use TikTok or not.
Speaking at the floor of the House, McClintock said, “Do we really want to give the President the power to declare ‘foreign adversaries’ and then require a communications platform within them to be banned or sold to a government-approved owner?”
“The last thing we should do is take that power away from the people and give it to the government.The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism. The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let us slow down before we blunder down this very steep and slippery slope,” he said.
Though the House seeks to ban TikTok, it’s not final yet. The decision to ban the app still has to go through the US Senate, where things might get a bit tricky.
