Rand Paul Opposes TikTok Ban In Break With GOP Colleagues—As Senators Could Vote On Bill Wednesday

Topline

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) launched a fresh wave of criticism against a proposed ban on TikTok Wednesday, citing the GOP’s competing priority against social media censorship—putting him at odds with the broad coalition of Republicans who are in favor of a ban that could come to the Senate floor for a vote as early as Wednesday.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Key Facts

Paul warned that the TikTok ban could “permanently lose elections for a generation,” he wrote in a Wednesday op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal, citing the 94 million, “primarily young Americans,” who use the app.

He also noted that the proposed TikTok ban defies the GOP’s opposition to other forms of social media censorship, such as Twitter’s removal of a 2020 New York Post story that suggested President Joe Biden had contact with his son Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business partners.

Paul’s criticism comes as lawmakers have ratcheted up scrutiny of the Chinese-owned social media company over surveillance and spying: Congress members grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in a hearing last week where he denied that Chinese government officials have access to user data, despite TikTok parent company ByteDance admitting previously that it used data from the app to track users’ locations, including Forbes journalists.

Senators could vote Wednesday on legislation that would prohibit use of the app in the U.S.—a proposal few lawmakers have publicly voiced opposition to amid fears of appearing lenient on the Chinese government, though it was widely expected to fail in the Senate and there is no parallel bill in the House.

Key Background

Lawmakers are weighing several mechanisms to better protect TikTok users’ data, including a separate Senate bill, the RESTRICT Act, proposed by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) and backed by the White House, that would allow the president to ban foreign tech it considers a threat and could force a sale of TikTok. A House bill aimed at TikTok, the DATA Act, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this year, would allow the Biden Administration to sanction Chinese companies that transfer sensitive personal data.

Tangent

Paul noted in the op-ed his own history of being censored by social media companies, a reference to his suspension from YouTube for a week in 2021 over a video claiming that masks were ineffective in fighting Covid-19. “I have a host of complaints about domestic social media platforms that ‘cancel’ conservatives but I’m not in favor of banning them or forcing them to accept my opinions,” he wrote.

Surprising Fact

While Paul attributes his opposition to the TikTok ban to his support of the First Amendment, one of ByteDance’s largest American investors, billionaire Jeff Yass, is a major Paul donor. Yass has given $23 million to political action committees supporting Paul since 2015, the Courier-Journal noted, citing Federal Elections Commission records. He and his wife Janine were the fourth-largest contributors to the 2021-2022 election cycle, supporting primarily Republican candidates. Paul denied that he was influenced to oppose the TikTok ban by donations, telling the Courier-Journal last week: “My decisions are not based on any kind of donations. My decisions are based on the Constitution and First Amendment.”

Chief Critic

Progressive members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), have also come out against the proposed TikTok bans. The lawmakers have said they instead prefer new regulations surrounding data-sharing and privacy controls for all social media companies. The White House, which reportedly prefers for ByteDance to sell its American arm of the company versus banning the app, is also grappling with the political ramifications of a ban. “They are caught trying to find the least-worst solution between youth backlash on the one side and China backlash on the other,” an unnamed source familiar with the Biden Administration’s thinking told the Washington Post, referring to the risk that Biden could fuel GOP criticism that he has not taken a firm enough stance against China if he does not agree to a ban.