The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that could ban TikTok.

The bill, which requires the app’s parent company to divest from China or face a U.S. ban, passed by a 352-65 vote.

WATCH:

Here are the 15 Republicans who voted NO:

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From the Associated Press:

The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company’s current ownership structure is a national security threat.

The bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear.

TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

The lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok’s consumers in the U.S. any time it wants. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.

“We have given TikTok a clear choice,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok’s.”

Numerous public servants and online commentators warned the legislation is a trojan horse that would allow the government to ban other platforms.

“The House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone, based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary. I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said last week.

Massie issued a new warning Tuesday morning, calling the bill a “trojan horse.”

“The so-called TikTok ban is a trojan horse. The President will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps. The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S. (or offshore) INTERNET HOSTING SERVICE or App Store, not the ‘foreign adversary,'” Massie wrote.

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* Images from Thomas Massie X Post *

“If you think this isn’t a Trojan horse and will only apply to TikTok and foreign-adversary social media companies, then contemplate why someone thought it was important to get a very specific exclusion for their internet based business written into the bill,” Massie continued.

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* Image from Thomas Massie X Post *

Elon Musk shared similar opposition to the proposed bill.

“This law is not just about TikTok, it is about censorship and government control! If it were just about TikTok, it would only cite ‘foreign control’ as the issue, but it does not,” Musk said.

“The so-called TikTok ban is the government’s latest effort to control speech and control you. The bill’s definitions give it broad potential application. As with the Patriot Act, FISA, and AUMFs, the executive branch will maximally exploit each provision to amass and abuse power,” U.S. Senate candidate Justin Amash said.

Matt Kim shared this message:

It’s unclear if the legislation will pass the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the legislation “makes no sense.”

From The Hill:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that the proposed TikTok ban “makes no sense,” ahead of an expected vote on the House floor on Wednesday.

In an interview on “The Hill” on NewsNation, Paul argued that a ban on TikTok would be akin to steps employed by the Chinese government, which, Paul said, is precisely the supposed threat from which such a ban would purport to shield Americans.

“TikTok is banned in China,” Paul said. “We’re thinking – or people who want to ban it are thinking – Wow, we’re going to really defeat the Chinese communists, by becoming Chinese authoritarians and banning it in our country? TikTok is banned in China. So, we’re going to emulate the Chinese communists by banning it in our country?”

“It makes no sense whatsoever,” he added.

Paul also argued that some Americans have a stake in TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, and that such a ban would be taking property away from Americans without proving a crime first.

“We know that the Chinese government does demand things, but we don’t know that any information really is going from TikTok to any of these people in China,” he said, noting that a provable crime is necessary to take property from Americans.

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