While Congress says the social app is a security threat, critics of the law targeting it say it shows how out of step lawmakers are with young people.
As Congress voted Tuesday night on legislation that could ban TikTok, Americans were posting their real-time reactions on the embattled video-sharing app.
The Senate passed a revised TikTok bill, tied to a package to provide aid for Israel and Ukraine, with a 79-18 vote, and President Biden signed it into law Wednesday. It will force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to an American entity within 12 months or face a ban in the United States. The House passed the bill on Saturday with a 360-to-58 vote.
Here’s what lawmakers who oppose the law, content creators and users said.
Lawmakers
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat representing Silicon Valley, had been a vocal opponent of the bill. He shared his opposition through videos posted on TikTok before and after the House vote. Mr. Khanna has been outspoken against a sweeping ban on TikTok, and has met with people who create content for TikTok to understand their concerns.
“I voted no today on the bill to ban TikTok because it hurts the free speech of creators, activists, organizers, and small business owners who rely on the app to have their voices heard,” Mr. Khanna said in a statement following the House’s vote. He added his support for a new law that would give users more control of their data.
Representative Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, was another opponent of the bill and previously said that banning TikTok meant silencing the voices of young people. In a two-and-a-half-minute video on Saturday, he called for comprehensive social media reform instead of singling out TikTok.
