The debate over whether to ban TikTok in the United States gained steam in recent days after the House passed a bipartisan bill that could signal the end of the social media platform in this country.
A number of conservatives have spoken out against the effort, however, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). He discussed the issue during a Fox News Channel appearance, which included an on-air disagreement with co-host Brian Kilmeade.
Brian Kilmeade and Rand Paul get heated and go head to head over TikTok. pic.twitter.com/oYUEmhuXZa
— SweetPeaBelle (@SweetPeaBell326) March 14, 2024
According to the Daily Beast:
“Who owns that company? ByteDance. ByteDance is owned by China,” Kilmeade asserted.
“No. It’s not. See, that’s a lie,” the senator exclaimed. “And you are defaming… the company. Sixty percent of it is owned by international investors. Twenty percent is owned by the software developers who are Chinese. And 20 percent is owned by the employees, 7,000 of whom are Americans!”
Kilmeade, undeterred, once again argued that China owns ByteDance and, by default, owns TikTik’s algorithm, sparking another angry retort from Paul.
“You just told a lie,” an outraged Paul growled. “You can’t say something on TV that’s a lie about a company. That is an out-and-out lie, and it is provably false!”
The pair kept going back and forth until Kilmeade said he had to cut the interview short because he was up against a “hard break,” but not before they both got some parting shots in.
“You’re comfortable with TikTok influencing America,” Kilmeade huffed.
“I’m comfortable with the Constitution. You cannot take people’s property without due process,” Paul replied. “If you believe there’s a national exemption to the Constitution, then you believe that Fox News could be shut down, that Twitter could be shut down. That’s a terrible thing to believe.”
A large number of social media users have shared opinions that align with Paul’s assessment of the situation.
The TikTok ban is an attempt to empower the president to regulate the internet and shut down websites he declares to be indicative of a "foreign adversary." It must be stopped. pic.twitter.com/yTsTRlufKP
— Dave Benner, Nemesis of Neocons (@dbenner83) March 13, 2024
If the government bans TikTok, what's stopping them from banning 𝕏? pic.twitter.com/ZLyqVkajb4
— Planet Of Memes (@PlanetOfMemes) March 13, 2024
To ban TikTok would literally violate TikTok’s First Amendment rights, Ron
— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) March 13, 2024
Free speech is free speech, Congress needs to stop passing unconstitutional laws for imaginary "safety" that we all know is really about censorship and control of their false narratives.
Every member that voted for this unconstitutional bill, needs to be removed from power ASAP.
— Mindy Robinson 🇺🇸 (@iheartmindy) March 13, 2024
Paul’s Fox News interview wasn’t the only time he has publicly denounced the legislation.
As The Hill reported:
Paul added that he has issues with the Chinese government and the Saudi authoritarians, but he said businesses can’t be banned just because they “have an unsavory government.”
Kilmeade and Paul then began talking over one another as the Fox News host insisted that the popular app was owned by the Chinese government.
“No, they don’t — see, you’ve just told a lie, Brian,” Paul said. “You can’t say on TV something that is a lie about a company.”
Kilmeade called for his producers at Fox News to cut away from the interview immediately.
On Tuesday, Paul said the proposed ban “makes no sense” since the app is already banned in China.
“So, we’re going to emulate the Chinese communists by banning it in our country?” he said in an interview on “The Hill” on NewsNation.
And here’s his discussion of the topic with Tucker Carlson:
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