All but three Florida representatives vote for measure that could ban TikTok

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida’s representatives in Washington were largely united in voting to force popular social media platform TikTok to be separated from the Chinese-based company ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S.

However, three members from Florida detracted, including Republicans Matt Gaetz and Greg Steube, and Democrat Maxwell Frost.

Gaetz explained his vote, saying he believed the current bill was “overly broad, rushed and unavailable for amendment or revision,” but that banning TikTok is the “right idea.”

Steube explained his as well, saying while TikTok is dangerous to the U.S., the current bill text may be “weaponized against conservatives” or social media sites like X.

Before the vote, Frost said he believes the ban would violate the First Amendment.

The vote on the measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives late Wednesday morning by a massive margin, 352-65.

Of those, 197 in favor were Republicans and 155 were Democrats. 15 Republicans and 55 Democrats voted against the measure.

Now, the bill would have to be taken up by the U.S. Senate before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk, though it is reportedly unclear as to whether the measure has legs in the upper chamber.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday morning that TikTok is “controlled by Chinese company and ByteDance” and warned the communist state is harvesting American data.

Rubio has been vocally supportive of such a ban.

Scott helped lead a ban on TikTok for government devices in 2023.