JUST IN: Rand Paul Blocks Josh Hawley's Bill Banning TikTok, Then Hawley Responds

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked legislation from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to bank TikTok.
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[@RB-wt6pg]

Why not create a bill that bans and criminalizes data collection foreign and domestic?

[@damanamathos]

When people refer to TikTok "spying on people" or "tracking journalists", what they're referring to is collecting user IP addresses, which can be translated into a rough geolocation. The problem with banning that data collection is that virtually every website and every app also gets and logs that information by default, which you do for many reasons (localization of content, tracking hackers/spammers for bans, etc). You of course will never hear anyone who talks about banning TikTok for spying or tracking because the whole argument is ridiculous.

[@Damudean]

Because that means banning every app running and your governments also.

[@stevenagel7941]

Because the us government is already doing it.

[@Shaylok]

We have services that already do everything they are accusing Tic Tok of. I'm all for limiting their reach into our private lives.

[@hckr4hire]

The US government doesn't want to outlaw its own activity. That's why they targeted a specific company or country.

[@ashs4022]

STOP hiding policies NOT mentioned in bills. STOP IT. Make it illegal to have any policy in the bill that is NOT in direct relation to the title and scope of the bill. No more "coat tailing" bills. Make THAT illegal.

[@RandomActs0fAwesome]

this feels very important to do. its nonsense

[@DismantleTheHegemony]

Please support Article 5 Convention of States movements in your state. This is the only way we can make what you are suggesting become the law.

[@94XJ]

It'll never happen. The more partisan they make the voters, the more easily they can get away with that BS. As long as everything goes hard party lines and people are fooled into straight ticket voting, the more BS we will have to shovel. We'll just have this constant pendulum of supermajorities that'll force whatever they want through. The bases will continue to vote in leaders that do this because the main enemy is whatever political party they don't affiliate with and that's about as much as people understand.

[@loftin92]

"Patriot Act"

[@pariah_carey]

Pork-Barrel Additions to Legislation is One of the Most Evil Practices that is currently in Use, by ANY Government. I am fundamentally OPPOSED to ANY Piece of Legislation that includes More than ONE Single Provision. I don’t care if it would PERSONALLY benefit me, TREMENDOUSLY, because I am OPPOSED to this Practice on PRINCIPLE.

[@DevineInnovations]

TikTok: US Government: "That's our job!"

[@pithyfoot2160]

It is though

[@tecumseh4095]

@@pithyfoot2160 nope

[@h4k-d424]

Best comment goes to you 👏

[@BigSexy95]

Edward Snowden tried to tell us, but we are oblivious to the fact

[@Gerlach13]

They can’t keep up with technology like this and it scares them and it’s just sad and I’m always angry now! Lol

[@GaryWinters8309]

It's not just a bill to ban tik tok. It's a bill that gives big government control over big tech and pretty much what ever we see on the internet. It's 100s of pages long. You can ban tik tok with a 1 page bill.

[@peterbaruxis2511]

It's five short pages. www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/HEY23051.pdf

[@lannie691]

Does your fear of big govrtnment only mean ours. or does it extend to Communist regimes,?

[@ob1coyote]

They're not just banning TikTok. It's the Patriot act meets the internet.

[@actanonverba3041]

This is a different bill

[@doomcold]

With the same wiring

[@kathyscorner4917]

Lol tiktok won’t be banned. You know who made to much dough from China.

[@MrLandslide84]

Took the words out my fingers.

[@incognitocas]

Mark Warner and Josh Hawley are traitors, and the Restrict Act is unconstitutional. Our personal security is in danger because of the American government! TikTok cannot log our keystrokes on our phones. This is a blatant LIE!

[@dolphcrane6420]

No more "patriot" acts!!!!!!!

[@bthemedia]

💯 this is just a fear mongering attack on TikTok and the Internet… TikTok “issues” are worse with many other SM companies! Many more “China” related issues than this!

[@joanaggas3079]

Exactly!

[@phoenixfireclusterbomb]

This will be a new and improved patriot act. Trust none of these CCP puppets.

[@YTubeScandalScrambledMyHandle]

That's what it boils down to. The new & improved USA FREEDOM Act.

[@JD-lt7uv]

Wake up! This isn't about preventing freedom of speech. It's about preventing Chinese spies from Trojan Horsing our entire nation.

[@jackspring7709]

I'm with Rand Paul on this - and I'm shocked at Josh Hawley as I've agreed with nearly every other stance he has taken. This is neocon territory.

[@wildflower_gypsy]

Yeah unfortunately Hawley’s been exposed as a rino. He’s just doing what the isrEl lobbies want, total mouthpiece for aipac

[@JeffPalasek-cw2hv]

Damn. Now I feel like a complete idiot for being swayed by Hawley's speech. I should have known that Sen. Rand Paul would be the one with his head on straight.

[@responsumestxlii5686]

Good job Rand Paul! We say NO to patriot Act 2.0. You can ban Tik Tok w/o giving the government this level of power that will undoubtedly be abused.

[@michellebarnhill5130]

Absolutely! Who is paying Hawley for his bill...? WEF, Soros, Some black sun NGO?

[@dertythegrower]

Ron Paul predicted what Josh is trying to do... literally 20 years ago, in that same city.

[@dertythegrower]

i documented what Ron Paul predicted about this.... in his 2002 speech in that same room... wow, blows my mind.

[@crucommu1]

It sounds like Rand Paul is against banning Tik Tok "period". Is that what you want?

[@JD-lt7uv]

This is about preventing Chinese spies from Trojan Horsing our entire nation, plain and simple.

[@mikeall7012]

That tik toc bill had some terrible add on that would have criminalized VPNs. It had very little to do with tik toc directly and more to do with restricting Americans privacy and rights.

[@fredcarpenter1027]

It would not criminalize VPN 's

[@dr.donnawalter4380]

​@@fredcarpenter1027 - did you read the bill?

[@AdderTude]

No. Senator Hawley's bill specifically targets TikTok and ByteDance (I skimmed through it and it's rather brief and to the point). The one you're thinking of is the RESTRICT Act that's supported by RINOs.

[@elliekwong3180]

@mikeall: Hawley is spewing lies. This is not about national security or privacy of US citizens. USA gov't has been spying on everyone. . . ask Edward Snowden. USA continues to monitor and store your phone conversation, texts, emails, what you buy, where you go. If have a cell phone, they know where you are.

[@elliekwong3180]

@mikeall: This charade is a tactic to steal TikTok from a Chinese company. Mark Zuckerberg is losing business to TikTok and he wants TikTok. A matter of fact, Facebook has not invented any new product. They just bought companies, like Instagram, and WhatsApp. This is how it works. A US corporation asks US gov't "We want to this company or this technology". US gov't said "we will get it for you". Then, US gov't goes to work, using "long arm law", like they did to Huawei. They didn't get Huawei because China stood up to US thievery.

[@bretmartel7469]

This isn't Rand Paul supporting tiktok its Rand Paul defending the first amendment and making sure it remains universal. Thank you sir!

[@layna8924]

SO, FREEDOM AT ALL COST, EVEN WHEN IT COMES TO SPYING & INFILTRATION FROM DARK ELEMENTS THRU ITS APP...;)

[@painless4785]

@@layna8924 uninstall the app, read terms of service before installing an app, don't let your children on 'bad' apps. Individual responsibility, stop running to big brother lest you give away all your freedoms.

[@louiefelipe2445]

Rand Paul's pocket is full of cash now from TikTok and china .😂😂

[@painless4785]

@@louiefelipe2445 Evidence please.

[@ImRicWooo]

@@painless4785 Ive never had tiktok Never been on tiktok, Yet the last two times I checked my cookies tiktok was in them. This is not about freedom of speech. Its about China being able to control what the american public sees and what they see of the american public. Incluing your bank passwords and private information. Uninstalling wont stop this from happening A ban is the only thing. The bill they tried to pass was garbage and criminalized citizens for being on tiktok. Tiktok was not named in the bill

[@Tonetruk]

I am disappointed and expected more from senator Josh Hawley. He knows that this bill is bad for all Americans in the end. How could you promote a bill, that gives such over reaching powers to a governmental agency? Thank you Senator Paul, you make the American public, and your father proud.

[@dennisnancypaulson3079]

While I don't do Tic Toc at all because of the spam,I do however believe that we need to protect our right to choose and our rights to freedom of speech .to each their own choice. Their own speech. Inusually like Josh Hawley ,but I'm afraid I have to agree with Rand Paul on this.

[@steadyeddie7453]

@@dennisnancypaulson3079 What about the protection of the personal information of all the people in the contact lists of the Tik Tok users. Once you download the app you give the CCP your contact list and all associated info. All those in your contact list didn't have a choice. Our rights and our freedom of speech are not absolutes. It can be a fine line sometimes, but when your decision to use a CCP app exposes all the people in your contact list, we need to ban it.

[@birgittagaskell8798]

they are afraid we will find out info they are trying to hide...

[@Threemore650]

Yes, I really like Hawley. However, tiktok is cancer.

[@Nessfromundertaleclone]

@@steadyeddie7453 just don’t use it

[@MrRmann1234]

We know TikTok is a problem but many of us are concerned about the specific language of this bill and the powers it might give to our own government which has more than demonstrated how CCP-like they have become.

[@jeffk464]

The CCP has the authority to reach its hands deep into the business that operates in China. There isn't that much different between Tik Tok and any other Chinese tech company. The fact is Google and Apple should have been warning their customers and removing it from their app stores.

[@mrrey8937]

I think you are speaking to data privacy and not a national security threat which tiktok has been determined to be a national security threat. I agree with your opinion on our own government agencies exploiting and using private information, acting like a CCP agency......where are the warrants and the justifications for the warrants to purchase our data and use it against US Citizens and to censor us ??

[@violent_bebop9687]

This should be a specific provision for protection, not a blanket power grab.

[@Z33RO]

All of social media is a problem. Our data has been sold for years.. even before TikTok

[@jenniewalsh8023]

@@violent_bebop9687 We have a lot more enemies than the Chinese. Klaus Shwab, Bill Gates, George Soros and the World Economic Forum are determined to enslave humanity. My experience is that PRAYER TO ALMIGHTY GOD IS OUR BEST PROTECTION.

[@davekendall1338]

If the bill puts you in prison for 20 years for using a VPN, then it better not pass.

[@AdderTude]

This is not the RESTRICT Act. It's a different bill altogether, and it's much shorter and to the point.

[@BenjaminWirtz]

@@AdderTude But the only way you could enforce a ban on Tiktok would be to ban VPNs.

[@UWish0430]

​@AdderTude You've got the copy and paste going on anyone who suggests this is akin to the Patriot Act. I think you need to educate yourself on the facts on this bill.

[@UWish0430]

Hawley is being disenguous when he says you can't turn it off. Yeah you can, it's called "Uninstall". There you go, Tik Tok is now turned off.

[@ReformedSooner24]

There is always a question of Liberty vs security. The government has a responsibility to maintain both. However, it has leaned far far too much towards security. You know what they could do? They could put out ads all over the place like those freaking Truth ads for smoking. They could use their ability to speak to everyone and simply give everyone a heads up. But no. They move to give the intelligence agencies and themselves more power in the name of “national security”.

[@jimmyjeter5220]

Thanks Senator Paul, you opened a lot of eyes. Appreciated!

[@rs832]

Why not create a bill that requires an app to provide users with the ability to strictly disallow data collection? With EVERY application we should be given an explicit list of data-collecting permissions and the ability to toggle them on or off at OUR leisure, without penalty of complete denial of access.

[@craignelson3965]

Genius.

[@geezer2365]

because facebook and google lobbyists would never allow such a bill and they are the main groups trying to ban tiktok

[@Xlaxsauce]

look at this person thinking a foreign nation would follow american rules

[@dustinbaugh601]

If such a bill were ever proposed I would distrust it entirely until after studying the fine print to ensure it didn't have hidden passages to further revoke our rights. Our government is trash and deserves to burn unless they can actually start being honest. which i'm not convinced they even know the meaning of the word "honest".

[@rs832]

@@itsme2572 if we apps were required to strictly disallow data collection users could do that...

[@Sugalolo]

The fact that our people are so easily manipulated is the real problem.

[@jaredmarrero5251]

This! It’s about culture NOT laws.

[@obnobn2345]

You can't blame people who were lied to and made a good faith effort to do the right thing.....

[@jaredmarrero5251]

@@obnobn2345 in what way are you saying? Who is lied to about what?

[@mpc5584]

That started with the local news that's broadcast in networks outside the big cities. It's a far cry from BBC, WION and even CGTN which covers global issues and reads like Xinhua. That creates a funneled worldview at the onset.

[@920WASHBURN]

True but in people's defense we have the most corrupt pieces of trash in office.

[@samgee500]

I have a solution. Congress needs to be required to sit through an oral reading of the entirety of any bill that is to be voted on. They do not have to pay attention, they don't even have to stay awake. However, they must be required by law to be present during the reading of a bill.

[@johnypitman2368]

senators did you bring your pillows today? we are about to go into session

[@permrussiatoday]

Let’s start with something even simpler, have every single member of Congress stand up and read the constitution

[@anne48503]

Some of those bills like the patriot act would take years to read on the floor. I really like your idea.

[@ricn5494]

Wo Wo Wo....slow down there. Baby steps, lets at least make it a requirement that they are required to be present for all votes and have all votes on the record to start.

[@moomoomajesticmoose3734]

Yes

[@noclue30]

Thank you, Rand Paul!!! One of a few, very few Keep up the fight

[@Chris-cf2kp]

The Pauls have been voices of reason and competence, not to mention honest integrity that is scare to come by as demonstrated by proponents of this bill. We need more people like them to represent us in these matters where our voices must be curtailed to fit into the mechanisms of US politics

[@tiffinyharrington9307]

Bills should be required to be written in simple language, one issue at a time and have a character limit.

[@shoutingatclouds1050]

Declaring a Patriot Act style Martial law over TikTok. The people who presented the fist Patriot Act need to be tried for Treason before another happens. Seriously

[@juju-xx5xn]

And not be overly broad and vague.

[@gwenwalravens8030]

@@shoutingatclouds1050 Martial law, MARTIAL.

[@frankfeeney5977]

As a recovering lawyer, I can say with a degree of certainty, that the entire legal system centres on legalistic word salads, which in essence, prevent the common man from understanding.

[@penname8380]

@@frankfeeney5977 Correct. It allows for multiple instances of interpretation.

[@1three7]

The saddest part of this is that it's bipartisan. Both sides working together to give themselves huge amounts of unchecked power over regular people

[@levi5459]

How often do both sides of the aisle agree so unanimously in this time in our country? That there is in and of it self all the reason we need to know it’s just a Rohan horse for more government intrusion and power over our lives. This would be the patriot act of cocaine. What we need is well informed citizens who take personal accountability and responsibility to avoid it TT and teach their children to do the same.

[@levi5459]

Trojan horse

[@BHTK421]

Uni party

[@ronnietruman7296]

George Carlin said it, when both parties agree on something Americans should brace for an extra good screwing.

[@bw2408]

Also the inside traders are waiting for TT to get online and make tons of money.That is why this is kabuki theatre. TT is CCP and needs to be regulated true.I am sorry CCP is evil period and the ... woke are just ... pawns. Government have got to get out of social networks here too. TT is also being used to riot and mob rule to create bad behavior so they do need to be stopped on that

[@SumDumGy]

Individual bills for individual purposes. Our government needs to ban the process of package deal laws.

[@nerakar6562]

We have 2 guys in Washington I trust… Rand Paul in the Senate & Thomas Massie in the House! That’s it

[@mrsparefox3704]

Gotta love Rand Paul. "Freedom is scary, deal with it."

[@TyrianHaze]

Gotta respect the man for sticking to his code. I have never seen the man contradict previously held ideals.

[@bullirish]

Rand Paul is not correct about this issue...

[@TheRhino2719]

I like Rand, but Tik Tok is CCP Spyware. I agree with Rand about freedom, but when it's another country who's looking to destroy us, using their social media app as an intelligence tool, to accomplish their goal, then its not exactly freedom is it?

[@mrsparefox3704]

@@bullirish lol ok. Just let big daddy government think for you.

[@marlenehelfrick9260]

​@@bullirishhow so? Where do you draw the line on censorship? Who gets to decide what gets to be censored?

[@alvaroLguevara]

Hawley described everything all American Big Tech does to us, daily....

[@primordialpouch565]

yup and yet millions still use them all

[@marlenehelfrick9260]

True statement.

[@sheheals_wounds5169]

Only difference is we aren’t at War with them and giving them so much access is a breach of security

[@vladim73]

True, but...C'mon guys, it's Communist Murderous China dictatorship!

[@esthersmith3341]

He is sugar coating another bill with hidden agendas. I am proud of Mr Paul. You know his dad won the presidential nomination and they cheated him out of it. Thus has been going on for decades and decades.

[@stevenfulcher517]

Crazy that America's gov is already doing this themselves

[@goldsberrywayne]

The Restrict Act will allow the Govt to Censor anything on- line LEGGALLY

[@Genehicks199]

When he said the senate was not for sale,i spit my dinner everywhere laughing.

[@dudzinski324]

Since when?

[@HANKHILLFORTXGOVERNOR]

​@@dudzinski324 dinner time

[@buddyflood6761]

It's not for sale, it's already been sold out!

[@vanillaketamine6060]

Like a true politician in 2023, Hawley sure knows how to perform a soundbite 🤡

[@KnightlyChaotic]

No, no. He was very specific. The senate is not for sale to TICK TOK ... but didn't say wouldn't take CCP money. Isn't that right, Senator McConnel? Swallwell? What about the consulting firm Biden, Biden, & Biden?

[@lisabergman3779]

Rand Paul is right!!! I don’t want the President deciding what we can say or watch!!! I’ve even heard that this bill can put people in prison for 20 years! Whether that’s right or wrong we need freedom of speech!!!!!

[@HarmonyinChaos-ul3fk]

No he’s not. He’s just another Putin puppet. You know that guy right? The guy who is so powerful as Biden keeps sending weaponry to Ukraine

[@onlythewise1]

there doing it right now 25% convicted are innocent

[@user-jc9mu1ek6f]

Think about it you aren't choosing what you watch on these apps anyway, you're watching the videos that they put in your feed for you. Do you really want the ccp to have that power especially on an app with so many young users?

[@paulleard8349]

Sounds like Tic Tok is just another NSA agency anyways.

[@simonlee7077]

@@user-jc9mu1ek6f There's no way the CCP can get away with this without being caught. Any large disinformation campaign is likely to receive attention and the CCP doesn't want that. Feeds are based on what people frequently watch and subscribe to, not anything random that they're not interested in. Also, who are you to dictate what young people should and shouldn't do?

[@owenorders5202]

Here in the UK it's quite common for the government to propose bills that have hidden clauses in them authorising totally different things. The proposers make sure that these propositions are so long and have so many details that nobody reads them all the way through, and then they release copies to other politicians to review the night before they are due to be debated in Parliament, so that no one has the time to read them and formulate a response anyway.

[@dennisnancypaulson3079]

That is what they are doing here in the U.S.A. believe it or not. its been crazy every since Joe Biden became president.

[@sojournerhouse]

They do that here too!

[@owenorders5202]

@@sojournerhouse I've no idea where 'here' is, but from the looks of the photo on your profile, I'm guessing that you're American? Or Canadian? (Although I'm told that Australia and New Zealand's governments also does the same sort of thing.)

[@viewzfromthesestreets7123]

I hope Hawley isn't pushing the Communíst Restrict Act.

[@jordan_8329]

I like Hawley in some regards, but if he's this concerned then he should start rolling back some of the overreach from 9/11 and limit the data all apps can gather and give to other organizations. Its no better for our espionage agencies to do this than for China.

[@AngelaKSellsHomes]

Why would you like him?😮 He's so slimy...

[@christinepeach8213]

I too like Hawley but I do not agree with him on this censorship!

[@lrfox49]

I totally agree!

[@jameslinmd]

​@@christinepeach8213why? Because China isn't bad, folks - Jotato. Lol.

[@eurekaakerue4649]

@@christinepeach8213 *👋🧐❌ your not too brite are you /// take what you said here to your parents let them Watch this Video ✅ and as a family discuss this subject ‼️*

[@melodyoregon11]

Weird... doesn't FB do all of the things they accuse TikTok of? We KNOW FOR CERTAIN that FB does all of this.

[@mindqueen2127]

FB is not owned by the CCP. That is very important.

[@xiaopeichen7562]

@@mindqueen2127 How do you know that?

[@aleyabellydance2]

yes and google twitter instagram and all other platforms. And we gather data on the whole world!!! Fb has I think 4 billion users worldwide and yes our govt has a back door and is tracking us!!

[@M1sterE321]

​@@xiaopeichen7562 Are you an idiot?

[@MrBeetsGaming]

@@mindqueen2127 No it isn't even remotely important, if adults consent to having their data collected which they do by agreeing to the terms of service they should be allowed to use whatever app they please.... The NSA collects all the same data and then some WITHOUT consent

[@RumpleFoldSkin]

Good job Rand!!!!

[@SheBitesUncensored]

Senator Paul hits it out of the park again 👏

[@MunchinOnDew]

No he didn't. He defended Chinese spyware.

[@tactiks7468]

Well then, instead of targeting TikTok directly , write a bill about spying without consent and the banning of apps that do so.

[@TyrianHaze]

This is the pro move right here ladies and gentlemen. A pro move that Rand Paul would probably stand behind.

[@Inalienablerights15]

Not bad. GREAT!

[@dicktracy3787]

This would end the NSA - Yeah

[@010Twitched010]

That's pretty much all of them lol

[@morganclark7204]

that’s every app ever though… that’s the problem…in this case, GOOGLE would get banned… you ever say how much you want a pizza, then a pizza add pops up on Google? it’s not coincidental when ads pop up for things you’ve expressed you’ve wanted… even if you “ask apps not to track”… they continue to track… sad but true reality we live in.

[@evanlo2569]

Great Job RP. Finally someone who has some backbone and won't eat propaganda for breakfast.

[@roblumarket5247]

Rand Paul actually made sense

[@nomadprospector7093]

The US version of tictok is NSA right. Let's ban that too

[@heretoforeunknown]

The bill is a Trojan Horse and needs to be rewritten.

[@arthurpendragon3000]

It needs to be trashed. This doesn't need a bill. There are other ways where the government doesn't make a law that gives them more power.

[@bbmma838]

This is NOT the Restrict Act. That is Mark Warner’s bill. Hawley opposes it along with Paul and Vance. RINO’s are showing some support though, but that’s to be expected.

[@jimrobcoyle]

No. Rejected.

[@Shorty1nut]

Bill needs to be more specific. Thank you Rand Paul

[@wolfehoffmann2697]

No, the bill needs to be thrown into a fire pit, followed closely by it's treasonous authors.

[@JohnDeWeese-lq4pf]

The "Specific" parts of the 55 page bill goes WAY beyond our constitutional rights to free speech, privacy and so many other things. Whoever put this bill together should be replaced immediately.

[@1709blondie]

Oh it's specific all right!

[@arthurpendragon3000]

No bill!! No law!! No more government overreach.

[@walthoward68]

It all boils down to the “right to privacy” not being properly protected by law, and consequences for violating “privacy rights,” by ANY method, severe enough to deter.

[@patricktanna4947]

i'm not a fan of tiktok, but rand paul is 100% right here

[@melissawogan1257]

I like how Hawley is willfully leaving out the rest of the bill that is mostly what he says there allegedly protecting us from

[@kagato3]

There are two bills .....The Restrict Act S.686 that is like another patriot act, and Mr Hawley's bill S.85 that ONLY addresses Bytedance and tiktok banning.

[@alexdlocoa]

​@@kagato3 WHY ARE THEY PRESENTING TWO TIK TOK BILLS AT THE SAME TIME?!!! Ugh...

[@AdderTude]

@@alexdlocoa Because RINOs support the RESTRICT Act that covers far more than just TikTok.

[@charlessmith4242]

* Each bill should stand alone on its own merits, the only exceptions being if any amendments to that original bill have any direct bearings on that bill.

[@RaGinGnonSToP]

The mask ALWAYS eventually falls off of the "grass roots" candidates. They're all plants.

[@WHR0306]

Rand Paul's speech will go down as one of the best in history.

[@AdderTude]

Ehhhh, not really. He's still demonstrably weak when it comes to foreign policy. TikTok is not technically banned in China (TikTok is merely the international build). It's sister app, Douyin, is still used, where posted videos are heavily curated to remain relative to education and industry brands (as far as I understand it).

[@spudrubble]

TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others ALL track the same information on users.

[@barrypualford4244]

You can do something about it. Restrict background and battery usage when you're not using the app. They are deep in our business though. It's especially dangerous for government employees. It's psychological warfare for society.

[@BubbiehasWhaleKisses]

Josh Hawley is admitting what the US government does within American owned social media companies.

[@Lord_Volkner]

... and that's the reason they want to get rid of TikTok ... because they can't control the content on it. TikTok saved my life. I learned about Ivermectin on TikTok. I got CV19 real bad, ivermectin is the reason I'm still alive ... and my government didn't want me to know about it. They want to have complete control over the info we have access to, and I'm against that.

[@breakupgoogle4584]

They always project on their enemies what they are doing.

[@mrrey8937]

Rubbish........absolute rubbish. Hawley is admitting that tiktok is being used by the CCP to collect personal and private data/information. Hawley is telling you that it is a national security threat and as such, should be banned as they are a threat to our country.

[@bigmaw369]

Wait until they find out about Google 😂

[@wilmerday343]

FBI , NSA, Government, etc,etc,has same technology they use on us...

[@lindafox3619]

Thank you Senator Ran Paul...

[@madretwig]

They aren't just banning tiktok, they are adding all kinds of disinformation penalties into this bill.

[@OneofInfinity.]

The attempt to control every social media platform that dares spread unbiased information.

[@LinuxMaster9]

Penalties that obviously will not be applied to the NSA or CIA or DSA or any other 3 letter agency currently spreading propaganda.

[@NumberSixAtTheVillage]

@@rudyalarcon3532 - Wasn't there a vpn restriction in there too?

[@micahseyler6917]

Like what? What disinformation penalties? Like Brandon’s ministry of truth?

[@smyersfishingadventures]

@@NumberSixAtTheVillage Yep

[@Ish216]

The summary of this whole situation is kind of hilarious. "The chinese are spying on US citizens, that's OUR job!" - simply amazing.

[@kanders5031]

tiktok hacks gmail, lol

[@skillcosby3095]

Rand Paul low key gets his memes from tik tok

[@smolpener7430]

Doesn't the constitution only protect rights for Americans? That aside, why don't they just ban functions of the app, and shut them down if they don't comply.

[@ironhead9507]

I agree with rand , if you read the user agreement on nearly every app you give permission to access almost every aspect of your phone or other devices, it's not just tik tok

[@penname8380]

*While they are actively running* Not when they are off. (tested and confirmed) Try to pay attention so we aren't forced to have a remedial class on critical communications security.

[@ironhead9507]

@@penname8380 who tested and confirmed, China

[@andreichira7518]

​@@penname8380 So then uninstall it. What's the issue?

[@melindahernandez9043]

​@@penname8380 Our own government is already spying on us non stop. No one will stop that.

[@penname8380]

​@@andreichira7518 1. I don't have it so I don't have an issue, 2. The whole point to all of it is that the software in tik tok that tracks you and the keylogger attached to it do not go away when you uninstall it from your hardware. You weren't paying attention, and haven't been for quite some time or you would know the difference between what and how tik tok behaves compared to say apps like Instagram, KZbin, facebook or twitter. Heck even pokemon go.

[@ryanphillips4218]

God bless Rand Paul. Hopefully more of our reps will see these for what they are and protect our right to privacy in our homes and property.

[@waywardgeologist2520]

Hawley we don’t consent to your bill!

[@DreadedOne509]

That whole bill is trash and doesn't just ban Tiktok, it diminishes our rights in very bad ways.

[@MunchinOnDew]

It only pertains to TikTok, Bytedance, and any subsidiary of Bytedance. That is it, in full. You're either lying or ignorant. Congrats.

[@loudenlaffnite246]

How can these Republican senators decry FBI overreach with the Taibbi/Twitter Files case, but then try to pass legislation that would... give the FBI even more ability to overreach on social media? It makes no logical, morally consistent sense.

[@LinuxMaster9]

It is because there is not a 2 party system. It is a Uni-party. 2 sides of the same coin. Vote 3rd party.

[@paulbrittgarcia]

RINOS!

[@billmonroe8826]

You are comparing apples to oranges. Congress makes law, the IRS doesn't and they're the ones that went after Taibbi not the FBI. With that said, why does Congress make any law if you're going to say, "overreach"? If the American people aren't smart enough to get rid of Tik Tok then the American government has too. Unless, of course, you don't want to keep our sovereignty. Are you really okay with CCP spying on not only us but you too? Are the American people really that careless and that addicted to Tik Tok that they don't care about their data being stolen by the enemy but you have a problem with the FBI overreaching? What the hell is wrong with the American people?

[@RobertSmith-lw2bx]

Agreed.

[@Sngbrd1001]

Huh. The bible shows how leaders lose their logic, morals and sense. Look at Samuel 1. It's all about a king that kept doing things that made no logical, moral or common sense. None of these leaders who KEEP lying, either bold-facedly or by omission, will be left unpunished, one way or the other. God sees all these people are doing, even the ones who are as wolves in sheep's clothing. Apparently, Mr. Hawley has lost some of his courage and is buckling under the pressure of the fools at the WEF. Adding in policies that will intentionally hurt American's to a bill that we actually NEED passed? Fool.

[@sthomjoseph1058]

While I am no fan of tiktok and I do like Josh Hawley, Rand Paul definitely made the better argument and I have to agree with him this is a mistake trying to ban tiktok is no different than our own government censoring our speech which is the problem we r fighting against right now.

[@penname8380]

Your comment only makes sense when you think that "our government" is being ran by "our government" Which it hasn't for nearly 2 decades. I wish we would just stick to a 1 bill 1 topic format. But for reasons that are too entirely obvious we have to sneak other junk into a bill about something entirely different.

[@wilemmcdubs5682]

Better our government than a foreign enemy. Wouldn't you say lol?

[@mikesdead365]

Hawley is functioning out of ignorance. He is missing the First Amendment ENTIRLEY. The high tech economy is simply based on this data collection from Amazon, to Apple.

[@Zefar77]

TikTok is a massive spying program for the Chinese government. There is a reason governments have banned it from their phones. Still the bill they put up is just not something that should be voted through because it has a ton of negative stuff in it. Like up to 20 years in prison for using a VPN.

[@erinnelson434]

I love both these guys, Hawley and Paul, but TikTok should never have been legal here just like we disallowed their Huawei phones here when it was revealed what they were and just ad we would ban the sales of infant formula that was poisoned. We would not just allow it and hope people weren't "too easily deceived". If the government is for any reason, this is it. If TikTok were an American company, it would be shut down (for competing with our government) but since it is not, we must disallow it. It really IS for our own good this time.

[@dawsie]

I refused to signup to TikTok on any of my system, my friends and family wanted me to sign up to it but I won’t and that’s from day one it started getting popular

[@Crisperdad]

Wow, they both had good points... freedom of speech is still the bottom line in my opinion

[@redpillsatori3020]

Senator Paul missed the biggest reason to be opposed to this bill. It's basically the Patriot Act 2.0, but WORSE. The way it's written (vague use of language), basically anything you do online can be interpreted as an act of "espionage" or "treason".

[@bodigames]

Nope, you are confused. There are two bills .....The Restrict Act S.686 that is like another patriot act, and Mr Hawley's bill S.85 that ONLY addresses Bytedance and tiktok banning.

[@redpillsatori3020]

@@bodigames ahh thanks. I was wondering why he didn’t bring it up

[@resonanteamarilla7]

This bill is all sorts of wrong. They want to ban an app but give themselves the authority to have control over you data cuz you know big brother is better. Have all these Republicans forgot how it is done? Trump went after the manufacturer of the hardware, Huawei. They are the ones who sell your data in the first place. Write a new Bill for apple, google, android manufacturers make them put an option for the user to not allow them to share your data. Make it ilegal for them to sell your data without your permission. See how they lose money because they make huge amounts from selling your data. Of course there will be many that will give them permission similar to the ones that risk their lives and health for a donut, can't fix that. But Again this bill is stupid, Big Brotherish and shows a lot of the idiocy going on at Congress.

[@michaellovetere8033]

No, only tic-toc...

[@danstewart2770]

Here again is Rand Paul in the lonely fight to protect Americans' Constitutional rights.

[@erinnelson434]

It is not within the Constitutional rights of Americans to have TikTok. Hawley is correct about it. It is an evil Spyware tool of the CCP to gather all forms of data in such illegal and invasive ways with this soul corroding app. A law needs to be passed making it illegal officially. Like they did with those Huawei phones.

[@jjpom9538]

i am a rand paul fan. i just wish he had a suggestion as to how we can defend users of apps from getting that much sensitive information stripped from them. His point seemed to be “OUR OWN tech companies so it too… so, let’s just let tik tok get to keep doing what their doing.” Uh, no. We need to stop ALL tech companies from keystroke logging, location tracking, and/or gaining access to personal information not required for whatever app is being used.

[@erinnelson434]

@JJ POM No. With TikTok , it is MUCH worse and that's saying something. It is far worse than Google with all the data they have of ours or any other. It is Malware that needs to be banned like their Huawei phones were. It can get ALL of your most sensitive data once you download & open it ...from ANY of your devices - even those that you don't have TikTok on, even when your devices are nor on! And what's worse, the CCP goes around collecting people's medical and DNA info. So anyone who had one of those genealogy tests done is subject to them getting that info. Do you know what they want it for? Their continued dominance in the organ harvesting industry. That is what they paid the Bidens so much $ for. That's why he went straight over to Executive Orders desk & flung open the border first thing!

[@erinnelson434]

@@jjpom9538 But you are right. The other entities that wrongly colkect our data need to be stopped also.

[@GojosBackHand]

​@@jjpom9538 facts

[@BigSexy95]

I love the smell of Revolution in the morning 😂😂

[@peterbaruxis2511]

prepare to inhale

[@willardswelding7243]

Yeah. Smells like a corpse.

[@zacharycrago2753]

There should be no "fine print" or "backdoor funding" in any bill.

[@schreckpmc]

The older I get the more I realize that sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t.

[@rileymilovich]

And that is life

[@RaGinGnonSToP]

What a terrificly High IQ comment. 👏

[@victorli7737]

Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point

[@bebef6983]

What a fine line Rand Paul presents!!!!!!

[@bobnox3053]

Not sure if you saw the first half of the video. Maybe you should watch it again until it starts making sense. Tiktok is a Chinese trojan horse.

[@GranolaBear13]

Have some faith in the freedom of espionage by our worst foreign adversaries! Bravo, Rand Paul! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤪🤯 It’s their right!

[@GranolaBear13]

WOW!!!!! He wouldn’t even take a question!!!

[@peterbaruxis2511]

@@bobnox3053 Thank You.

[@RhondaBranneky]

I believe LinkedIn does this too. Can we stop them as well?

[@Noizemaze4]

Nice, Rand almost said "coutries" but switched to "companies" last second xD

[@JamezGrimm]

"Spy on Americans thats where we draw the line." ..... "Unless its done by us. Which is why we need this bill to remove the barriers stopping us from doing so."

[@funklelester8646]

"Only the American govt gets to track everywhere you go, everyone you meet, everything you do online."

[@dianamandeville3860]

Sadly, you're probably right, but i think he's trying to stop communism from spying and creating socialists. Socialism leads to communism. At the very least, we can vote out communism or socialism. For the time being.

[@Inalienablerights15]

But, golly gee gosh, they only do it because they LOVE you, and wanna porteck yew!

[@derekbaker4763]

Yeah right now it's being farmed by Russia. China, and the most scary terrorists of them all. The democrats. It's pretty crazy how much info they gather.

[@sgordon7771]

Lol fact

[@elliekwong3180]

@Funkle Lester: Yup! USA is the biggest surveillence state in the world.

[@chrisdavis9881]

Get rid of it on all devices

[@8stringedBeast]

When he described the apparent abilities, I instantly thought he was talking about FB

[@The_Ring_Leader]

He says tiktok has a back door to our info but he's opening the front door for the fbi

[@mrrey8937]

nope, not true. There are two bills .....The Restrict Act S.686 that is like another patriot act, and Mr Hawley's bill S.85 that ONLY addresses Bytedance and tiktok banning.

[@The7StarGeneral]

Front door is being nice. It is every door, window, chimney, water line, sewer line, garage door. And if you even attempt to stop them, go right to jail or pay a massive fine. Which is like the Chinese law they are condemning. The stupidity of fighting the Commies by effectively nullifying the 1st Amendment. Next they'll ban rock and roll because the beat makes you communist.

[@ancapgrandscribe9546]

Well this bill does open the door to the FBI, because it gives a dilemma, either allow TikTok to “spy”, or say that it’s only allowed for OUR Government to do, which the FBI does with our data handed over by these companies to said FBI in the first place

[@The_Ring_Leader]

@GreatGrandImperialAncap Negative. We don't have to have to give up freedoms in order to be secure in our personal effects, property,and lives. Case in point: The patriot act.

[@ancapgrandscribe9546]

@@The_Ring_Leader Yeah exactly

[@mattphillips5529]

I was disappointed at first with Rand Paul. Then I realized the position he's coming from. After reading some comments I am thankful that many people are more informed than I previously thought. Great job people. Think for yourself.

[@terryw428]

The bill would let government to track citizens....BAD BILL

[@mrrey8937]

@@terryw428 Rubbish, you have confused two separate bills. Hawley's bill S.85 does not do what you say. You can read it for yourself by typing S.85 into google, its only concern is to ban tiktok and bytedance. The bill you are thinking of is the S.686 bill (The Restrict Act) introduced by Mark Warner (D) and a few Senate Rino's

[@teneleven2818]

Banning TikTok would be simple. Then creating a bill that’s not about banning TikTok but overreaching on other issues. Should have realized the crooked politicians would try an unnecessary underhanded approach pretending to protect US citizens

[@samuelcantley5500]

What you say or do will be held against you in a court of law

[@emilywhitman5286]

Our evils are emboldened now. Let’s be smart, careful.

[@freeman-1776]

Don't forget whistleblower, Julian Assange. I rest my case! Sounds like our own government has become quite jealous of other governments following in their footsteps.

[@mz_9118]

Jealous no , scared !

[@jasonpotter274]

This bill is overly broad, and gives far too much power to too few individuals. Bravo Dr. Paul. I see this as the PATRIOT act for electronics. Instead of going after social media companies, how about passing a National personal data protection act with provisions to obfuscate the data of US citizens.

[@texasswade8453]

No! The federal government isn’t about to do that! They wanna ban TikTok because they’re jealous of the CCP’s abilities. They wanna be the only ones who spy on you!

[@johannaroets7496]

And you trust Rand Paul. He is rhino wake up .Mr Hawley a real patriot of America. From SAfrica.

[@BigBankzSon]

That's what What Trump is talking about doing!

[@johannaroets7496]

@@BigBankzSonAll the way PRES TRUMP. He is for the people and for country and for God. Much safer with Pres Trump Nobody owns him he cannot be bought. God bless you all and keep DJT safe Amen 🙏 from SAfrica Amen 🙏

[@AdderTude]

You're confusing two separate bills. Hawley's bill just targets ByteDance and TikTok. The bill you're thinking of is the RESTRICT Act, which is supported by RINOs like Susan Collins and Mitt Romney.

[@NickkaDUB]

It’s ok when we do it to your own people, but not now that others are doing it…

[@morganne23]

Jesse Watters called out Lindsay Graham about this bill already at the beginning of this week as well.

[@tammy5926]

He gave him a drive by colonoscopy. 😂

[@morganne23]

@@tammy5926 he did! 😂 That damned Lindsay didnt know what to say! 🤣

[@dcunningham010480]

Thank you Rand Paul for standing up for the 1st Amendment. There are many other things that can be done: make Tik Tok remove the key-logger, make them remove the geo tracking, just a few off the top of my hat.

[@MrMagnaniman]

Tiktok isn't the only app doing this. Instead of outlawing the things that Tiktok is doing wrong, they're trying to just ban Tiktok itself because, if they outlawed those things, they'd have to lock themselves up, along with all their campaign donors. Hawley's self righteous, fear-mongering rant is one of the most hypocritical displays I've ever seen in my life.

[@elliekwong3180]

@Moon Shine : You are talking about USA. USA is the biggest liar in the world. USA is the biggest thief in world. This whole charade is about stealing. USA corporation wants TikTok. That's why Trump tried to steal TikTok . TikTok sued the US gov't and won. So, this is the second go around of thievery attempt. This is what USA does around the globe.

[@elliekwong3180]

@dcunningham010480: Don't be silly. If you own a cell phone, you are being tracked. That's the technology. How else you get your signal to your phone! If people don't want to get spied on, get rid off all your electronic gadgets.

[@juju-xx5xn]

But ALL the apps do that. Twitter, Facebook, etc.

[@gracesebs]

Doesnt that impact other Apps that are also doing the same? case FB

[@terrytabor1554]

How much is Tic- Tok paying Rand Paul

[@avocadotoast4934]

Because capitalism can be bought.

[@a_foust]

Do we not have a problem with every American tech company doing the exact same thing? 😂

[@MamaBlisss]

I understand why it was banned on the government devices but personal devices should be up to the individual. Trudeau is trying to control what Canadians have access to online and it's no different.

[@aleyabellydance2]

this is so bad. I can't even stand it. How they want to take us down the fascist way.

[@RandomActs0fAwesome]

Any business in China is inexorably linked with the CCP. They cannot deny access to the party. It is a foreign propaganda tool

[@amercanmade2685]

Yes it is. Allowing a Communist Country to operate in America is a HUGE Threat to America. They should have zero access to America. Not be allowed to rent or own property not be allowed to have an APPS on any system.

[@pugnacious8543]

So you're OK being tracked and monitored by the CCP and all your contacts.

[@OneofInfinity.]

Same agenda.

[@depmaudoofal74]

Love Rand and his pops.

[@maverickoverlord735]

Shred the Restrict Act, period!

[@kyleallen1858]

The kid smirking behind josh is awesome

[@TheBushiwarrior]

ban the NSA too

[@terrymoney9718]

And fbi

[@nicolaschinchurreta]

As soon as Rand Paul leaves the senate, we are doomed.

[@bjsilvey7]

Hawley definitely knows where the camera is for his performative sound byte politics.

[@avid4jdepp]

Has anyone read the restrict act? It doesn’t even mention Tic Tock…

[@robertminor3460]

Hold up!, Don't those other platforms do this also? , Their not trying to ban them

[@TheVisionaryLeo]

Yes they do and you give them permission

[@dianamandeville3860]

We dont want our enemies getting our info and learning how to manipulate us. The only way to fix americas problems, is to put an end to the DOJ and to get off our asses to canvass for and vote for honest citizens who willingly fight for our freedoms. The DOJ needs to be spied on so we can weed out the criminals. But we need a government willing to do something about the criminals in these unelected positions. Unfortunately the criminals are winning. They have more motivation than those of us sitting around and hoping for change, myself included.

[@umustbbornagainActs2-38]

*They're 😊

[@TheZigzagman]

That's exactly Rand's point. He's saying letting the government ban a legal company because they don't like how they use private data basically opens the door for the government to ban whoever they don't like.

[@movatrova3539]

Yes. They aren't trying to ban Google because Google answers to the US government. If Google starts doing shady shit, USG can stop them. TikTok, on the other hand, answers to the CCP.

[@melanie7781]

Thank God for Rand Paul

[@TedCruz-ng6tl]

You like tiktok

[@melanie7781]

@@TedCruz-ng6tl Nope, however I am not a fan of over reaching gov either. This bill was far to over reaching and they all know it.

[@TedCruz-ng6tl]

@@melanie7781 so you love China spying on us because that’s what they’re doing with tiktok

[@bthemedia]

@@melanie7781 God bless you and Yes - thank God for Rand Paul and his father Ron too! So well said. Any propaganda on TikTok is from the users/people, not China!

[@Goalie171]

​@@TedCruz-ng6tl that's like saying there's a bill that protects puppies from abuse but also mandates every school day starts with a kids drag show then if someone opposes the bill saying "why do you hate puppies?" Look more into the details of this bill. It's not good.

[@gailcriss7400]

Good point

[@JulietAnnerino]

Bravo, Senator Paul!

[@shawnp8878]

Facebook and others do the same thing but they've never made a big deal about it.

[@mizm1186]

They aren't apps developed, monitored and controlled by a foreign country that is our "enemy" and wishes us harm. That's what the HUGE difference is. China is notorious for extreme monitoring of their own people so that they can use that information to control them. Just imagine how they can use the information they gather to control/manipulate your enemies citizens. This is a stealthy attack on America. They can use this info to destroy a country from within without the need to use weapons.