TikTok bill divides Massachusetts delegation in Congress - see how they voted
BOSTON - A TikTok bill that could lead to a ban of the popular social media platform in the U.S. took a major step forward in Congress on Wednesday. The House of Representatives passed legislation that would require China-based parent company ByteDance to sell its stake in the app.
The bill passed with broad bipartisan support, but in Massachusetts there was a rare split among the nine Democrats representing the state. Below you can see how the delegation voted, and what some of them had to say about the bill.
How Massachusetts representatives voted on the TikTok bill
Rep. Jake Auchincloss - Yes
Auchincloss is a co-sponsor of the bill, and told WBZ-TV last week that the legislation is in the best interest of national security and social media users.
"It's bad for their mental health, it's bad for their cognitive development, it's bad for our civic discourse as a country," he said. "And Congress needs to step up and hold these social media corporations accountable. But we can't hold them accountable if they're not subject to U.S. law."
Rep. Katherine Clark - No
"I have serious concerns about data security, but I'm opposed to the Republican fast tracking of this bill while they actively obstruct urgent national security emergency funding - refusing to stand with our ally Ukraine and oppose Putin's tyranny," Clark said.
Rep. Bill Keating - Yes
Rep. Stephen Lynch - Yes
Rep. Jim McGovern - No
"I'm voting no on the TikTok bill. Here's why: 1) It was rushed. 2) There's major free speech issues. 3) It would hurt small businesses. 4) America should be doing way more to protect data privacy & combatting misinformation online. Singling out one app isn't the answer," McGovern said.
Rep. Seth Moulton - Yes
Moulton is a member of the Select Committee on China and has received classified briefings on TikTok.
"170 million Americans use TikTok. This is unprecedented and yet we have our number one adversary in the world controlling what is seen, controlling our data," Moulton told WBZ-TV.
"So, when you really understand the facts here, what's going on, it's of grave concern. If you look in the Congress at who voted for this compared to the small minority of people both Democrats and Republicans who voted against it, almost everyone with a security clearance, with access to national intelligence about what's really going on behind the scenes with China, we all voted for the ban."
Rep. Richard Neal - No
Rep. Ayanna Pressley - No
"We must take immediate action to enact greater oversight over big tech and social media companies including TikTok, but the bill voted on in the House was the wrong approach," Pressley said. "Instead of targeting a single company in a rushed and restricted process, Congress should pass comprehensive data privacy legislation that creates standards and regulations around data harvesting across all social media companies, like many other nations have done. I also have serious concerns about the First Amendment implications of a ban on TikTok, which millions of Americans rely on to consume news, make a living, and build community with one another."
Rep. Lori Trahan - Yes
What happens next with the TikTok bill?
President Biden has said he'll sign the bill if it gets to his desk. But first it'll have to pass the Senate, which Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said "will review the legislation when it comes over from the House."
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said in a social media post Wednesday that he's pushing legislation that would protect online privacy and youth mental health.
"We don't have only a TikTok problem-we have a Big Tech privacy problem. From Meta to Amazon to Discord, US-owned companies are preying on children & teens for profit," he said. "We don't need to ban TikTok to fix their invasive practices."
