Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he outright rejected the ban on TikTok chiding all of his GOP cAn urgent decision regarding banning Tik Tok applications, and then Facebook and Twitter, are the powers of the US government?
Which countries have banned TikTok and why? Why did the government take this decision?
Why is TikTok getting banned?
Did TikTok get banned in the US?
What will happen when TikTok is banned?
Is it true that TikTok is banned?
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over a measure that would ban use of the oft-criticized social media app.
Lawmakers also pointed to the national security concerns TikTok has raised recently because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, following reports that the company collected users' data and spied on them and journalists. And in an opinion piece published Wednesday morning in the Louisville-based Courier Journal, Paul said banning TikTok would mimic censorship imposed by the Chinese government. He also raised the issue of whether to ban the viral video app as a matter of freedom of speech and said he would defend the app even against members of his own party. Paul stressed that his opposition to a potential ban is not due to one of the company's existing major donor relationships
Paul wrote, "I hope that more rational minds will consider which is more dangerous: videos of teens dancing or nudes or the precedent of the US government banning speech and freedom of thought." To me, it's an easy answer, I will defend the Bill of Rights against all comers, even, if need be, members of my own party
He added, “If you don't like TikTok or Facebook or YouTube and Twitter either, don't use it. But don't think that any interpretation of the Constitution gives you the right to block or prevent it.”
A spokesman for his office, Sen. Josh Hawley, an outspoken critic of TikTok, said he plans to introduce legislation to ban the app in the US on Wednesday, which he aims to pass unanimously. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban or suspend the app. And opposition from Paul and some Democrats makes it unlikely that it will pass
According to Bloomberg, one of Paul's largest benefactors, billionaire Jeff Yass, is the largest US investor in TikTok. Yas has donated millions to Paul's re-election campaign through its Super PAC donation affiliate. He also contributed directly to Paul's re-election campaign.