Ocasio-Cortez says she’ll vote no on ‘incredibly rushed’ TikTok ban legislation

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday she will vote no on legislation that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to divest from the app or face a ban in the U.S.

“I’m voting NO on the TikTok forced sale bill,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “This bill was incredibly rushed, from committee to vote in 4 days, with little explanation.”

“There are serious antitrust and privacy questions here, and any national security concerns should be laid out to the public prior to a vote,” she added.

The bill, which the House is set to vote Wednesday morning, was introduced last week. The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously advanced the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” just two days later.

The legislation would give TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 165 days from the day it is enacted to divest from the popular video-based social media app or face a ban in U.S. app stores and web hosting services.

President Biden said Friday that he would sign the legislation if Congress passes it. The White House has described the bill as “an important and welcome step” to address potential data privacy and national security risks posed by the app.

“The Administration has worked with Members of Congress from both parties to arrive at a durable legislative solution that would address the threat of technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our broader national security,” a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement last week.