Lawmakers ramp up warnings about TikTok, call for national ban: 'This is digital fentanyl'
Senate votes unanimously to ban app from government devices
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., slammed TikTok early Thursday after the Senate unanimously voted to ban the highly controversial social media superpower from government devices for its alleged role as a data miner for the Chinese Communist Party only a day before.
"I believe this is [the first step to a nationwide ban]," Gimenez said on "Fox & Friends First."
"This could be a bipartisan effort, both by Republicans and Democrats. It was a good indicator yesterday when it passed by unanimous consent."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gimenez said he plans to support Sen. Marco Rubio's, R-Fla., bill to broaden the ban to all devices nationwide due to national security concerns.
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Gallagher, appearing on "Fox & Friends," called the Senate's decision a "no-brainer."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I urge Speaker Pelosi to take up companion legislation in the House. It would be far better use of our time than trying to ram through a gigantic omnibus spending bill at the last second that nobody's read," he said.
"We have a bipartisan precedent in the Senate now. It's going to be hard for the Democratic senators, who are now on record recognizing TikTok as a national security threat, to not support a more broad ban of TikTok nationally," he added.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TikTok has become a source of concern as lawmakers assess its national security risks going forward. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The video-sharing app created multiple stirs before when namesakes like Joe Rogan and former President Donald Trump sounded alarms about the app's privacy and national security risks.
Other federal officials, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who introduced the "No TikTok on Government Devices Act," and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., raised similar concerns.
Gallagher slammed the platform as "digital fentanyl" in a recent statement outlining the legislation he and Sen. Rubio introduced to ban the platform nationwide.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"TikTok is digital fentanyl that’s addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news. It’s also an increasingly powerful media company that’s owned by ByteDance, which ultimately reports to the Chinese Communist Party – America’s foremost adversary," he said.
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In this photo illustration TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in Athens, Greece on April 13, 2021. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"Allowing the app to continue to operate in the U.S. would be like allowing the U.S.S.R. to buy up the New York Times, Washington Post, and major broadcast networks during the Cold War."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gallagher told Brian Kilmeade that "it is time to stop TikTok from becoming the most powerful media company in America."
Gimenez warned of the dangers TikTok poses to America's youth not only by collecting personal data but also through influence.
"The Chinese Communist Party is gathering information on millions of teenagers, even smaller than teenagers," he warned. "They're also directing what content our children are looking at, and so basically, they're cooking their minds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I believe that it's time to ban TikTok altogether, not just on government devices."
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At the state level, Texas Governors Greg Abbott, Kristi Noem and Kevin Stitt joined other Republican executives in voicing concerns over the platform and pushing for bans on government devices within their states.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The number of states that have banned the app from government devices has reached 11.
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.