Starters, US Government Jonathan Milner Starters, US Government Jonathan Milner

How close was the US. House vote on the TikTok ban?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

  1. The House passed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that could force TikTok to cut ties with its parent company or face a nationwide ban. How many US House members voted for the bill?

  2. The House passed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that could force TikTok to cut ties with its parent company or face a nationwide ban. How many Republican US House members voted for the bill.

  3. The Press is calling this a bipartisan bill. In a two-party system, like in the United States, bipartisan typically refers to any bill, act, resolution or any other action of a political body in which both of the major political parties, Republicans and Democrats, are in agreement. A bipartisan coalition behind the measure included Republicans, who defied former President Donald J. Trump in supporting it, and Democrats, who also fell in line behind a bill that President Biden has said he would sign. The US House is very polarized and most House bills have very little bipartisan support. Why do you think this bill was different?

  4. Now that the bill has passed the house describe the next steps in the legislative process?

  5. The bill faces a difficult road to passage in the Senate, where Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, has been noncommittal about bringing it to the floor for a vote and where some lawmakers have vowed to fight it and last year Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a similar effort. And even if it passes the Senate and President Biden signs it, as he has pledged to do, and it becomes law, it is likely to face legal challenges. How does this process illustrate the concept of checks and balances?

  6. Several Republicans and Democrats expressed their opposition to the bill based on free speech concerns and TikTok’s popularity in the United States. Some legal experts have said that if the bill were to become law, it would probably face First Amendment scrutiny in the courts. What clause of the First Amendment would be an obstacle to the constitutionality of this bill?

  7. In an unusually aggressive move for a technology company, TikTok urged users to call their representatives last week to protest the bill, saying, “This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States.” This move did not work to stop the House from passing this bill. According to the visual below* 2.5% of TikTok's monthly active users in the U.S. are 11 or under. 17.7% of TikTok's monthly active users in the U.S. are 12-17. 23.9% of TikTok's monthly active users in the U.S. are 18-24. Why do you think TikTok users were unable to stop the House from passing this anti-TikTok bill?

  8. Had you been a member of the US House, descfribe some of the different factors weighing on your decision, and explain whether you would have voted for this bill?

  9. There’s also a chance that even if the bill is signed and survives court challenges, it could crumble under a new administration. Mr. Trump, who tried to ban TikTok or force its sale in 2020, publicly reversed his position on the app over the past week. In a television appearance on Monday, Mr. Trump said that the app was a national security threat, but that banning it would help Facebook, a platform the former president criticized. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it,” he said. Why do you think Trump has changed his position on TikTok, and why did so many Republicans support the bill despite Trump’s opposition?

  10. Last year Montana’s legislature passed and their governor signed a bill banning TikTok. Implementation of that law was blocked by a federal judge. In 1932, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote that “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” How does Montana’s law illustrate the concept of federalism.

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Contact your US Senator and let them know what you think about pending TikTok legislation.

Get Creative

If bipartisanship were an color, what would it be?

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