South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace and HBO late night host Bill Maher voted Friday against a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a ban. We discussed the reasons.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday ordered TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the app, citing national security concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may be abusing TikTok’s rights. Passed bipartisan legislation to face banning in the United States. Platform and User Data.mace Appeared On Friday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” he sat down with Democratic California Representative Ro Khanna to discuss why he voted against the bill. (Related: Beijing scrambles to protect TikTok amid threat of imminent US ban)
“Now the House has taken a vote and I think it passed it pretty overwhelmingly. They voted for it. The Commerce Committee voted to ban TikTok 50 or sell it for free. “I never heard of that in America, even when we were friends,” Maher told Mace and Khanna. “Who didn’t vote for the bill? You, you, Donald Trump (pointing to Mace and Khanna) are against it, [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] is against it, Marjorie Taylor Greene is against it…what’s the common ground there?”
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Khanna explained that he believes this is ultimately a First Amendment free speech issue.Mace agreed with Khanna and cited due process standards for shutting down TikTok in the United States, noting that this is also a Fifth Amendment issue.
“You have always been faithful to the First Amendment. Even as the FBI and federal agencies directed social media companies to police and censor posts on Twitter and elsewhere, you I’ve been defending the First Amendment,” Mace said, referring to his previous positions. Mr. Khanna embraced the First Amendment. “This is a First Amendment issue. I think it’s potentially a Fifth Amendment issue. It’s not the government’s role to ban apps from the App Store or ban websites. .”
Maher agreed with Mace and Khanna that they want to protect free speech, but that the Chinese Communist Party could manipulate the app for its own benefit and undermine democratic values and national security. He raised concerns that certain content could be pushed out.
“I think I’m with you guys. I’ve always had freedom of speech,” Maher responded. “Most of them are completely innocent. But it also exists in cases such as: [the CCP] It is necessary that this does not happen. And we saw that after the Israeli war broke out, as all the children sided with Hamas. ”
“That’s right, you keep it there and keep it innocent. Mostly just dancing,” Maher said. “[But] When you need to change people’s minds? Don’t joke. They have it, but they are not acting in our interests. ”
Now that the House has passed the bill, it’s up to the Senate to take it up and vote on it. If the bill passes the Senate, it will reach the desk of President Joe Biden, who has indicated he intends to sign it.
TikTok vehemently opposed the bill, calling it a “complete ban” on the app.
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