Congress has just sent a bill to President Joe Biden’s desk that would ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok unless it divests from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The legislation is a shocking crackdown on a social media business, but it comes as lawmakers dawdle on whether to rein in the broader industry or protect Americans’ digital privacy.
“It can’t just be about TikTok,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told HuffPost. “TikTok is the worst of these social media sites in terms of damage it can do, but Instagram does damage, YouTube does damage.” Murphy is the co-author of a bipartisan bill, with Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), that would outlaw social media accounts for children under 13 and require parental consent for kids under 18. It’s one of several proposals to create new standards for online safety and digital privacy that’ve been sitting on a shelf as the TikTok ban sailed through the House and Senate with surprising speed.
Biden has not yet said whether he will sign the bill, but he has expressed concerns about the national security risks posed by TikTok. The Trump administration previously tried to ban TikTok, but the effort was blocked by the courts. It’s unclear whether the new bill would face similar legal challenges.
The TikTok ban bill has been praised by some lawmakers and national security experts, who argue that TikTok poses a threat to national security because it collects data on users and could be used by the Chinese government for propaganda or surveillance. However, other lawmakers and civil liberties groups have criticized the bill, saying that it is an overly broad and ineffective way to address concerns about TikTok.
The debate over the TikTok ban bill highlights the broader challenge that Congress faces in regulating social media. Lawmakers have been grappling with how to address concerns about online safety, privacy, and misinformation without infringing on free speech rights. It’s a complex issue with no easy answers, and Congress is likely to continue to debate it for years to come.
In the meantime, state lawmakers are passing their own laws to protect kids online and ban them from social media. Last month, Florida passed a law that prohibits children under 13 from using social media without parental consent. Other states are considering similar legislation.
The TikTok ban bill is a sign that Congress is finally starting to take action to address the growing concerns about social media. However, it’s clear that Congress has a lot more work to do to develop a comprehensive approach to regulating social media.
