Cotton Again Blocks Democrats’ Attempt to Extend TikTok Ban Deadline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353
April 9, 2025

Cotton Again Blocks Democrats' Attempt to Extend TikTok Ban Deadline

"Let me say bluntly to any American who wants to invest in some half-assed TikTok deal-Congress will never protect you from going into business with Communist China."

Click here to view Senator Cotton's floor speech.

Senator Cotton: Reserving the right to object, because I do object to this effort and will object to future efforts to change the TikTok law.

Let's remember how we got here. TikTok is a Chinese Communist spy app and a tool of Chinese Communist propaganda.

That's why Congress passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan law mandating that TikTok's parent company sell it if TikTok is to continue operating in America.

Why did Congress pass this law?

Because TikTok is not just another social-media platform. TikTok addicts our kids, harvests their data, exposes them to pedophiles, and promotes harmful and manipulative content, including vile antisemitic videos.

TikTok also silences, censors, and suppresses content that exposes Communist China for what it really is: a monstrous tyranny.

The truth about China's genocide against the Tibetan and Uyghur peoples, the massacre at Tiananmen Square, the crackdown on Hong Kong, the origins of Covid, and more are all disappeared behind the veil of TikTok's algorithm.

What TikTok doesn't say is only part of the problem- what it does say is deadly.

The Chinese version of TikTok tells kids to study hard, eat their vegetables, and revere their dictator, Xi Jinping.

But the American version of TikTok exposes our kids to videos that glamorize and glorify violence, obscenity, eating disorders, drug use, and even suicide. TikTok's lethal algorithm has, without question, cost the lives of too many Americans.

That's why TikTok is so dangerous. And that's why Congress insisted that TikTok cut ties entirely with Communist China.

President Trump is trying to implement the law that Congress passed, and many American businesses and investors are apparently interested in buying TikTok.

I applaud patriotic Americans who want to buy this app and cut all ties with the Chinese Communists. But reports have surfaced that some businesses and investors want a bad deal that would violate the law by letting Communist China continue to influence the TikTok algorithm. Even worse, these potential buyers may ask Congress to somehow indemnify them for violating the law or immunize them for TikTok's past crimes against and injuries to the American people-especially young Americans.

Let me say bluntly to any American who wants to invest in some half-assed TikTok deal-Congress will never protect you from going into business with Communist China.

So American businesses and investors who want to dip their beaks in the golden TikTok fountain should think twice before giving their money and their good name to Chinese Communists. If the TikTok deal maintains any operational relationship with China, you'll be stuck with the consequences. Caveat emptor.

So I do oppose this effort to change the law, and I will oppose in the future other efforts to change the law that Congress already passed.

Let's allow President Trump to negotiate and see if Communist China is willing to make a deal. If not, then the law is the law.

Now, I will yield to my colleague from Nebraska.

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