Horsford Votes Against TikTok Ban

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) voted no on the H.R. 7521, a bill to force divestment in TikTok. National security is paramount to protecting our democracy and our people, but so are the First Amendment rights of our citizens. This legislation was rushed from committee to the House floor, raising concerns about the unintended consequences.

Congressman Horsford made the following statement after the vote:

“It is long overdue for Congress to pass legislation dealing with user data safety and security at all social media platforms. In recent years, we have seen data breaches and other security violations from various social media companies. Yet, Congress has failed to protect all Americans' interests on all platforms in a sector of our economy and media that will continue to see user growth and company expansion. 

“There are broader concerns with social media that we need to act on. The greatest threat to our democracy and electoral process is the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation. Viral statements and messages have gone unchecked on many of these platforms, steering public sentiment and suppressing democratic participation or altering the way a person may vote or act. And the algorithms that make up the backbone of many of these platforms could have broader implications when they don’t account for ethnic, racial, and cultural differences in their users.

“This legislation would be a forced ban of TikTok if the required divestment failed to occur within the prescribed timeframe. I oppose a ban because of the impact it would have on 100s of millions of American users, particularly the more than 28,000 small businesses in our state that use the platform to grow their business and millions of individual users in the Silver State.

“Content creators who have built the platform's success have a financial interest in the company’s divestment as much if not more than any other investors. And the impact on the entrepreneurs and small businesses in Nevada and across the country that rely on the platform could be devastating. The racial wealth gap in our nation persists. Yet, the opportunities for financial success and growth made possible by social media were unimaginable 10 or 20 years ago. We cannot simply cut off an avenue of wealth-building without a truly deliberative discussion.

“I take the threats to our national security seriously, and we must protect our citizens. To truly accomplish that, we must have a thorough and deliberative debate examining all aspects of social media, not just targeting one company or user base.”

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