Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul joined TikTok on Saturday to protest the app’s impending ban.Paul proceeded to post a singular video to his account, explaining why he had joined the app just as it is about to go offline. “Why am I joining TikTok just as the government ban begins?” Paul said in the video. “Because I don’t like being told what to do. I don’t like being told what I can think or what I can say. The courts may think there’s an exemption to the First Amendment. I don’t. I joined TikTok today as a form of civil disobedience. To the 170 million Americans who use TikTok: Don’t give up, don’t give in. Resist.”Paul appeared and sounded angry as he gave the statement.His account on the platform, @randpaul, had over 62,600 followers as of Saturday at 3 p.m. His account was also already seen to be verified in the short time that he had been on it, a designation that TikTok gives to the accounts of famous and notable people to avoid being confused with impostor accounts.The app was forced to sell or face a ban as part of legislation that overwhelmingly passed Congress last year and was signed into law by President Joe Biden. TikTok has adamantly refused to entertain the idea of selling off the app, which means that a ban will now be implemented Sunday.However, despite Paul’s protest, Paul did not actually vote against the TikTok ban. Paul was not present in the Senate for that particular roll-call vote and was one of three senators who did not vote either way on the bill.The Senate vote was 79-18, while the House vote was 360-58.The TikTok bill was also paired with other legislation that gave funding to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, with no distinction in the votes between the two items.In the Senate, the few “no” votes included former Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Indiana Sen. Mike Braun.In the House, Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie also voted “no.”However, all four members of Congress appear to have expressed skepticism more directly about the Ukraine aid portion of the bill at the time, with less emphasis given in public statements to the TikTok portion of the bill.The TikTok ban will go into effect on Sunday. However, despite this, President-elect Donald Trump expressed a desire on Saturday to see the ban undergo a 90-day delay, where he said that he hopes a resolution could potentially be found in that time that would allow the app to remain permanently available in the U.S.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul joined TikTok on Saturday to protest the app’s impending ban.
Paul proceeded to post a singular video to his account, explaining why he had joined the app just as it is about to go offline.
“Why am I joining TikTok just as the government ban begins?” Paul said in the video. “Because I don’t like being told what to do. I don’t like being told what I can think or what I can say. The courts may think there’s an exemption to the First Amendment. I don’t. I joined TikTok today as a form of civil disobedience. To the 170 million Americans who use TikTok: Don’t give up, don’t give in. Resist.”
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Paul appeared and sounded angry as he gave the statement.
His account on the platform, @randpaul, had over 62,600 followers as of Saturday at 3 p.m. His account was also already seen to be verified in the short time that he had been on it, a designation that TikTok gives to the accounts of famous and notable people to avoid being confused with impostor accounts.
The app was forced to sell or face a ban as part of legislation that overwhelmingly passed Congress last year and was signed into law by President Joe Biden. TikTok has adamantly refused to entertain the idea of selling off the app, which means that a ban will now be implemented Sunday.
However, despite Paul’s protest, Paul did not actually vote against the TikTok ban. Paul was not present in the Senate for that particular roll-call vote and was one of three senators who did not vote either way on the bill.
The Senate vote was 79-18, while the House vote was 360-58.
The TikTok bill was also paired with other legislation that gave funding to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, with no distinction in the votes between the two items.
In the Senate, the few “no” votes included former Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Indiana Sen. Mike Braun.
In the House, Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie also voted “no.”
However, all four members of Congress appear to have expressed skepticism more directly about the Ukraine aid portion of the bill at the time, with less emphasis given in public statements to the TikTok portion of the bill.
The TikTok ban will go into effect on Sunday. However, despite this, President-elect Donald Trump expressed a desire on Saturday to see the ban undergo a 90-day delay, where he said that he hopes a resolution could potentially be found in that time that would allow the app to remain permanently available in the U.S.
