🔍 The Gist: Congress has passed a bill that could significantly alter TikTok’s future in the U.S., stirring concerns and debates across the political and social spectrum.
📰 The Details: The newly passed bill, targeting the widely popular app TikTok, aims to address national security concerns by possibly forcing TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations. Lawmakers are worried that TikTok could share American user data with the Chinese government and spread misinformation.
The bill would require ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months to prevent the app from being banned in the U.S. This legislative move has united figures across the political divide, from GOP firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, to Rising Democratic star Nikema Williams, showing the complex and broad concerns over TikTok’s potential risks to U.S. security and privacy.
📊 By The Numbers: TikTok is used by approximately 170 million Americans, and this legislation would profoundly impact not only these users but also millions of small businesses that rely on the platform.
✅ How They Voted: Here is how each Georgia representative voted on the bill. Yes means they voted to order TikTok to sell, No means they voted not to regulate TikTok. This vote did not follow the normal pattern of partisanship, with just one Democrat and one Republican from Georgia voting against the measure.
| Photo | Representative | Vote | District | Hometown | Party |
 | Rick Allen | Yes | 12th | Augusta | Republican |
 | Sanford Bishop Jr. | Yes | 2nd | Albany | Democrat |
 | Earl “Buddy” Carter | Yes | 1st | Pooler | Republican |
 | Andrew Clyde | Yes | 9th | Clyde | Republican |
 | Mike Collins | Yes | 10th | Jackson | Republican |
 | A. Drew Ferguson IV | Yes | 3rd | West Point | Republican |
 | Marjorie Taylor Greene | No | 14th | Rome | Republican |
 | Hank Johnson | Yes | 4th | Lithonia | Democrat |
 | Barry Loudermilk | Yes | 11th | Cassville | Republican |
 | Lucy McBath | Yes | 7th | Lawrenceville | Democrat |
 | Rich McCormick | Yes | 6th | Suwanee | Republican |
 | Austin Scott | Yes | 8th | Tifton | Republican |
 | David Scott | Yes | 13th | Atlanta | Democrat |
 | Nikema Williams | No | 5th | Atlanta | Democrat |
❓ Why It Matters: For young TikTok users, this bill signifies potential shifts in how they interact with their favorite app and underscores broader geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.
🔜 What’s Next?: The bill’s final fate still hinges on additional legislative steps and potential legal challenges. The bill will move to the Senate next and President Joe Biden has indicated that if the bill gets to his desk, he will sign it.
💬 Conversation Starters:
- What is the balance between national security and the first amendment?
- What is the balance between Laissez-faire Economics and Government Regulation?
🇺🇸 About Representing You: This is an ongoing series of news stories devoted to how the officials elected and appointed to represent you are voting and how they are spending their time and your tax dollars.
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