WASHINGTON — Legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. on Wednesday passed with overwhelming support in the House, including the majority of members under 50.
An NBC News analysis reviewed the votes of every member of the House, grouped by age, and found that 78% of the 124 members under the age of 50 voted in favor of the bill and about 19% of them voted against it. Three members under 50 didn't vote and one voted present.
The first Gen-Z and youngest member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., was among the younger lawmakers who opposed the measure, which would call on TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell it.
In a post on X ahead of the vote, Frost, 27, wrote, "I believe the bill does set TikTok up to be banned" and added that there are First Amendment issues in taking away a platform that more than 170 million Americans use and said it wouldn't "fix the serious issues we have with data privacy."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., 34, a prolific social media user, also voted against the bill, which could result in TikTok being removed from app stores in the U.S. She argued on X that while the legislation raises "serious antitrust and privacy questions," the bill was "incredibly rushed, from committee to vote in 4 days, with little explanation."
Ocasio-Cortez was one of only five House members under the age of 40 to vote against the bill. Most of the others voted for it, except Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., who didn't vote.
The No. 3 House Republican, Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, 39, wrote on X, "This important bill is vital to protect our national security and ensure that the American people are not improperly targeted, surveilled, or influenced by a foreign adversary like Communist China through online applications like TikTok."
And while most of the older members of the House, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., voted in favor of the bill, some also voted against it.
House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn, D-S.C., who at 83 is one of the oldest members in the lower chamber, opposed the bill.
“I got a bunch of Chinese companies in my district. They make refrigerators and all kinds of stuff,” he told NBC News.
Asked about the impact on young voters in the 2024 election, Clyburn said, “Well, that certainly is something that I think about, and I do believe that if we are going to do this, we need to do it for everybody in every way.” That includes taking a look at Section 230 of the Communications Act, which provides immunity to social media giants and other internet companies in lawsuits related to content posted online, he said.
While President Joe Biden, 81, has indicated he would sign the TikTok bill if it makes it to his desk, its path in the Senate remains murky.
