Washington D.C. warms to potential TikTok ban

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — There aren’t many issues with a more bipartisan consensus in Washington than the idea that TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security. But the potential ban of the Chinese-owned company — and getting young Americans on board — continues to be an uphill battle.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Wednesday tried to get a bill that called for a TikTok ban passed in the chamber but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked the measure, citing his concerns over censorship.

“Do we really want to emulate Chinese speech bans?” he asked on the Senate floor. “Aren’t we the ones that say it’s wrong for China to ban speech? So we’re going to be just like China and ban speech?”

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota have introduced another piece of legislation. It doesn’t specifically name TikTok, but it would essentially give the president the authority to ban the app.

The White House has backed that framework, and lawmakers in Washington are warming to the idea of a TikTok ban.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance — and its links to China — are what have lawmakers and national security experts concerned.

ByteDance also has another one of the fastest-growing apps in the U.S. Lemon8 is described as a mix of Instagram and Pinterest. It was the 24th most-downloaded app in the U.S. on Wednesday and the 14th most-downloaded app in the country on Tuesday, according to the website Apptopia. On those days, it was downloaded more than the Major League Baseball app.

Lawmakers have not accused Lemon8 of any wrongdoing and the app’s popularity may have caught them as a surprise.