Why Rep. Jim Himes opposed TikTok ban
In a political era when Democrats and Republicans face off against each other like the Hatfields and McCoys, Wednesday’s TikTok vote in the U.S. House of Representatives broke the pattern. A possible ban against the wildly popular video platform passed overwhelmingly, with just 65 members saying no.
You might think Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, would be among the yes votes. As the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, set to become the chairman if his party takes back the House, Himes takes a keen interest in national security.
And after all, the bill – which would force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok within about six months or face a ban on downloads on most U.S. devices – is all about national security. The fear is that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to turn over sensitive information from TikTok users, or perhaps use the platform’s powerful algorithms to steer users to a certain point of view on, say, Taiwan independence or the war in Gaza.
Nope. Himes was among the small minority of 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans who voted against the measure, along with Reps. John B. Larson and Jahana Hayes of Connecticut’s 1st and 5th districts, respectively. Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Joe Courtney voted for it.
Himes explained his vote on X, formerly Twitter, and to me later Wednesday,
as a priority on freedom of expression and, free access to information and freedom of speech.
“The United States government would be shutting down a hugely robust venue for protected expression,” Himes told me. “Anytime the government steps in and says ‘You shouldn’t be reading this,’ it really troubles me.”
Supporters of the possible ban, including President Joe Biden, who said he’d sign the bill if it came to him, might say the measure isn’t a ban, it’s a requirement that TikTok move itself outside the control of the Chinese government, which is widely accused of oppression and human rights violations.
Himes sticks to the notion of freedom.
“As a purely technical matter you could say it’s not an outright ban, it’s a threatened ban. If I said ‘Dan Haar, give me your wallet or I will kill you,’ you would say, ‘Wait a minute, you just made a lethal threat.’ I would say it’s not a lethal threat, I’m just trying to get your wallet.”
As an aside, I don’t carry a wallet most of the time anymore because it’s all in my iPhone and I don’t use cash. Or is that an aside? The point is that we’re talking about evolving technologies and fairly new ways of spreading information, which requires careful thought. Himes and opponents of the TikTok bill want to be careful with a ban that was rushed through the U.S. House at an almost unheard-of pace.
“When something as important as freedom of expression is involved, I don’t feel like I want to get pressured by a highly
compressed timeframe,” he said.
It’s not often that any group of Democrats aligns with former President Donald Trump, who strangely reversed course this week and called on Congress to reject the measure – albeit that might have come because moneyed TikTok backers “persuaded” him. Regardless, you’ve got to hand it to the vast majority of House Republicans who bucked Trump in supporting the possible ban.
And you have to hand it to the opponents, who risk being labeled “soft on China,” a frequent barb from the right since that country’s revolution in 1949.
“I recognize that TikTok is a possible threat,” Himes said. “I think I understand the Chinese threat more than most members but that doesn’t
make constitutional issues simply disappear.”
One key for him is that it’s only a possible threat. Our best intelligence, including in a briefing for Congress from the Biden administration Tuesday, is that the Chinese government has not actually done the things the ban fears. And, Himes said, “The truth is that the Chinese can purchase a
lot of similar data and they sure as hell can steal it.”
Then there’s the matter of the main users of TikTok – young people. Read: Young voters.
“This is where young people live and young people are easily disenchanted from the political process,” Himes said. “That was absolutely a consideration…I tread carefully with young people.”
He’s open to more discussion about the issue, which now goes to a U.S. Senate less likely to pass the measure quickly. Whatever happens, a quick conversation with the top House Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee shows why this TikTok standoff isn’t a simple ideological battle. And in that, we can be thankful.