'This is about control!': Rep. Mace speaks out on House passage of potential TikTok ban

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — The United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would force TikTok, a short-form video app, to either sell or it will be banned in the country.

The potential TikTok ban passed in a bipartisan 352-65 vote Wednesday. One member voted present. Rep. Nancy Mace (R, S.C.– 01) was one representative who spoke out against the bill, claiming its passage in the House was the United States taking a step toward communism.

"Banning TikTok is beating the same drum as other communist countries controlling what content we are able to see," Mace said in a statement. "Let's not give the government any more power to control social media."

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The bill gives ByteDance, the Chinese technology firm, two choices: sell TikTok or face a ban.

If ByteDance chooses to sell, TikTok would still be available in the United States if the platform is believed not to be "controlled by a foreign adversary."

It would also force ByteDance to relinquish its algorithm that has a unique ability to provide users with near-perfect user-preferred content.

President Joe Biden has already claimed he will sign it if the legislation passes through Congress, according to The Associated Press.

However, its path through the Senate remains murky.

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Mace also provided five reasons why she joined the minority of House representatives to not ban the app, with her most pointed claim being that it was a "poison pill."

"This is about control, nothing more, nothing less," Mace wrote on X. "Sure, some of TikTok’s content is ‘bad,’ but that is all over the internet. Leave viewership restriction to the People, not the government."

Some names joining Mace in opposition to the bill were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, N.Y.–14) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D, Fla.–10).

"I’m voting NO on the TikTok forced sale bill," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "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."

For Mace, her reasons boiled down to one fact.

"I don’t want Joe Biden (or any other President) picking which apps I can or cannot put on my phone or which websites I can visit," Mace wrote. "It still doesn't protect Americans or their data."