Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said banning TikTok will backfire on the GOP with young voters.
Paul has aligned himself with Congressional progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in opposing a ban.
"We are in a political world," Paul said. "We shouldn't be completely oblivious to the fact that a lot of young people are on there and it is, frankly, their freedom of speech."
TikTok says it has a diverse community of more than 150 million American users, including book lovers, foodies, families, and emerging artists, and it says it has evolved into the preferred platform for nearly 5 million businesses.
Those lawmakers who want to ban the Chinese-owned Tik Tok say the user data of millions of Americans might be vulnerable to the Communist Party of China.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said: "Rand's probably right that we get blamed" by young voters if apps ultimately get restricted or banned.
Cramer favors the proposal from Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and John Thune, R-S.D., to give the executive branch new powers to ban technologies from places like China, Politico reported.
Some Republican backers of a TikTok ban like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., say Paul's argument about turning off young voters is "ridiculous" and "so silly I don't think it's worth responding to."
"Listen, if we can't win younger voters because we're not on TikTok, we got serious problems in this party," Hawley said.
"What's more important: Our national security and the threat that [TikTok] poses to our national security, especially in the long term and the ability to manipulate society?" said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. "You have to weigh that against what you might think the electoral consequences are."
A narrow majority of 51% of Gen-Z and millennial voters in a March NRP-PBS Newshour-Marist Poll opposed a federal ban, while 48% supported it, Politico noted.
Among the general public, the poll found just 36% of people opposed a ban, compared to the 57% who supported one.
TikTok was blocked from federal devices as part of a government funding bill last year, and the Biden administration said ByteDance must sell TikTok to American owners or face an outright blockade.
In the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy supports a ban on the app, while Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has backed efforts to find consensus on "appropriate measures" to address "real national security concerns."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also suggested last week that the bipartisan Warner-Thune legislation would be considered for inclusion as part of new China competitiveness legislation he's pursuing, Politico reported.
A TikTok spokepersone said: "Certain politicians have raised concerns about the potential banning of our platform, which would directly affect all 150 million Americans who have embraced TikTok. To proactively address U.S. national security concerns, we've taken unprecedented steps by enhancing safeguards for our U.S. users.
"Over the last two years, we've invested $1.5 billion in setting up TikTok U.S. Data Security and have been building a comprehensive framework to isolate protected U.S. user data."
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