Sparks flew on the Senate floor Wednesday as Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) chaffed over legislation to ban TikTok.
Paul objected to Hawley's motion to charge ahead with consideration of legislation to restrict the use of the short-form video app in the United States, arguing it trampled upon free speech. His comments drew a fierce rebuttal from the Missouri senator.
RAND PAUL BREAKS RANKS WITH GOP ON TIKTOK BAN: 'GOES AGAINST THE FIRST AMENDMENT'
"I have never before heard on this floor a defense of the right to spy," Hawley exclaimed. "I didn’t realize that the First Amendment contained a right to espionage."
Hawley sought unanimous consent to speed up consideration for his No TikTok on United States Devices Act, but Paul scuttled that effort with his objection. During his remarks on the floor, Paul downplayed accusations that TikTok is a vessel for Chinese spying as "conjecture" and cited the First Amendment.
"I'm unlikely to take First Amendment advice from someone who believes that the First Amendment doesn't protect the Communist Party," Paul quipped. "We should beware of people who peddle fear. We should beware of people who peddle half-truths."
Paul also raised concerns that the U.S. had its own apparatus for amassing the personal information of users. He also alluded to the fact that U.S.-based social media have likely complied with requests from the intelligence community, but they have not been held to the same repercussions as the ban aimed at TikTok.
"That information is going to a hostile foreign government. It's not a market; it's total control," Hawley said. "It is tracking your movements. It is tracking your location. And it is sending that information, whether you want it sent or not, to Beijing, to the Communist Chinese Party, where it can be accessed by anybody there who wants it."
Paul was unmoved.
"Don't succumb to fear. Don't give up our freedoms. Don't say that — 'Oh my goodness, we're gonna ban 150 million Americans.' This isn't just about the company. This is about the rights of 150 million Americans to get their content. You're restricting what they can do, and you're restricting what they can use, all within innuendo," Paul said.
"These are all conjecture. These are all things they're saying happen," Paul added, referring to the accusations that the Chinese Communist Party could spy on Americans via TikTok.
National security experts and a bipartisan cohort in Congress have sounded the alarms about TikTok's parent company, ByteDance's ties to the CCP. Under Chinese law, the CCP can gain access to American data, according to Hawley.
During a hearing last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew conceded that ByteDance might have some access to U.S. data, but he pointed to a plan dubbed Project Texas to address those concerns.
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Paul has emerged as one of the top dissenters to clamorings for a ban on TikTok. He is joined by progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
There are currently multiple bills floating in the Senate to ban the app. Paul speculated that the Supreme Court will likely intervene if Congress enacts a ban.