Thomas Massie, Ron Paul, Rand Paul blast the TikTok ban

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in a vote that would ban TikTok in the US if the company is not sold, potentially to American investors. The vote was unanimous, with 352 members voting in favour and 65 voting against. 

Meta Platforms has boosted its lobbying efforts

Joe Biden has said that he would sign the bill if it gets to his desk. It is unclear whether the Senate will pass this bill as it is or create its own version of the bill. What is clear is that, ultimately, US politicians will ban TikTok. Besides, China has come out swinging against these efforts and warned that it will not allow the selling.

A few theories have been floated as to why the US wants to ban an app that is used by 170 million Americans, including the Biden campaign.

My theory is that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram has a role in this trend. Data shows that Meta spent $19.3 million in lobbying in 2023. This made it the third-biggest corporate lobbyist in Washington after Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Amazon.

The other big lobbyists are associations like the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors.

Top US lobbyist firms

Meta Platforms believes that TikTok is a threat now that its usage is growing around the world. TikTok is also popular among young people, who are no longer using Facebook and Instagram as they did before.

Libertarians urge against the TikTok ban

Meanwhile, many libertarian-leaning politicians have opposed the TikTok ban. A few months ago, Senator Rand Paul, delivered a lengthy rebuttal in the Senate against the ban. He repeated these views in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Rand Paul argues that the TikTok ban is unwise because it will stifle the speech of millions of Americans. He also noted that the company had complied with Trump’s direction to ensure that American data is handled and stored in the US. Paul also argued that TikTok was mostly owned by Western investors.

The people who’ve handed our country to China are banning TikTok to protect you from China? Probably not. So what’s really going on? Rand Paul joins us to explain. pic.twitter.com/XRe7fvqoOw

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 14, 2024

Ron Paul, his father and former senator, also argued that a TikTok ban would not solve the data issues in the US. He noted that American social media companies were worse than TikTok in terms of data.

For example, Meta Platforms shadow-banned the Hunter Biden laptop story and was engaged in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

Meanwhile, Rep Thomas Massie reiterated these points. He also argued that the intelligence community had not shown any evidence of China using or stealing data of American citizens.

Thomas Massie argued that China already makes most of the products that Americans use, including the iPhone and computers. He also noted that the bill was so wide that the president will have the power to ban apps and websites owned by foreigners.

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