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March 14, 2024

U.S. House Votes in Favor of TikTok Ban Bill Amid First Amendment and Other Questions
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The House overwhelmingly voted Wednesday in favor of a bill that would
force Tik Tok's Chinese owner Byte Dance to either sell the social media
app or face a ban in the U.S. Backers of the bill claim Tik Tok poses a
national security threat and could be used for surveillance by the
Chinese government. Rights groups like the ACLU say such a ban would
violate the right to free speech. There are around 150 million Tik Tok
users in the U.S. alone. After voting, two of the lawmakers who voted
against the measure, Democrats Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, laid out
some of the bill's issues.

Rep. Ro Khanna: "It's an overly broad bill that I don't think would
stand First Amendment scrutiny. The other issue is that there are a lot
of people who make their livelihoods on this."

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: "There are timeline questions. A hundred and
eighty days to sell a company this size is very difficult. What happens
to antitrust law? Does it still apply? Does it not apply? And I think,
you know, the questions of if this is a de facto ban, I think that is a
real problem. And so - but I also have problems - by the way, four
countries are named, but if Saudi Arabia buys it, is that fine?"

The measure will now be taken up by the Senate.

Meanwhile, Palestinian rights activists say Israel's war on Gaza has
galvanized anti-Tik Tok sentiment in conservative and centrist
lawmakers. In a leaked post-October 7 audio recording, Jonathan
Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, can be heard saying, "We
have a Tik Tok problem," referencing declining public support for Israel
among younger people. The progressive group Roots Action also noted that
AIPAC is the top donor to Congressmember Mike Gallagher, who authored
the Tik Tok ban bill. This comes as Donald Trump flipped his position on
the bill within the last week, now opposing the ban, after recently
meeting with GOP megadonor Jeff Yass. Yass's company holds a 15% stake
in Byte Dance.


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