BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Rep. Jake Auchincloss voted to ban TikTok ‘for youth mental health’

  • TikTok bill would ban app in US if parent company doesn't sell it
  • House lawmakers approved the bill Wednesday
  • 'Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach,' Rep. Jake Auchincloss said

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

(NewsNation) — The House approved a bill Wednesday that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell the social media app.

Cosponsor of the TikTok bill and a member of the China Select Committee, Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., said in a Wednesday interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill” he voted to ban the app for youth mental health.

Auchincloss pushed back against suggestions the bipartisan bill raises free speech concerns. He argued that while free speech is protected, companies don’t have a “constitutional right” to have their content amplified algorithmically to millions of viewers by a company beholden to China.

“The First Amendment provides for the freedom of speech. Any American can say whatever they want on political matters of the day — that is sacrosanct,” Auchincloss said. “But freedom of speech is not freedom of reach.”

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would ban TikTok nationwide if ByteDance refuses to divest from the popular video-sharing app.

“I have dropped legislation just this week to hold all social media corporations — Meta, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter — accountable for protecting our youth online. But again, all those ones … are already subject to U.S. law. TikTok is not. So this bill is the first step to bringing parity to how we regulate these social media corporations,” Auchincloss said.

Auchincloss, one of the youngest parents in Congress, said his primary motivation was protecting kids’ mental health from social media’s “plundering.” He criticized platforms like TikTok, Instagram and others for profiting off excessive screen time that leaves families “miserable.”

“Congress has got to step up and hold them accountable,” he said. “We can’t do that, though, if TikTok answers to China and not the United States Congress.”

Politics

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

66°F Sunny Feels like 66°
Wind
7 mph SW
Humidity
47%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
50°F Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wind
6 mph NNW
Precip
10%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous