Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC) issued an apology on TikTok for voting for the bill that would ban app stores from hosting the popular short-form video platform if Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it.
“I screwed this up, I did,” Jackson said of his vote. “I have been completely roasted on this app over the last 48 hours. And I get it. If I were in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way. I would see someone who used this app to build a following and then appears to have voted against it. And I would be upset.”
@jeffjacksonnc Rep. Jeff Jackson (NC): TikTok #politics #fyp #nc #charlotte #raleigh #greensboro #durham ♬ original sound – Jeff Jackson
Jackson claimed to be for the forced sale of TikTok, as long as it allowed the app to continue on U.S. app stores. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has voiced his opinion against a sale, as most of the app’s data is hosted in Texas.
“I genuinely believe the chance of a ban is practically zero for a lot of reasons, financial, political, geopolitical, I just don’t think there’s any real chance of a ban,” Jackson said. “I still believe that, but maybe I got that balance wrong.”
Meanwhile, Jackson’s rival in the House, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) was in the minority and voted against the bill. Bishop is not on TikTok but voted against the bill because it “infringes on the First Amendment and grants undue power to the administrative state.”
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Bishop and Jackson are the two candidates left in the race for North Carolina attorney general. Sitting Attorney General Josh Stein opted out of running for reelection to run for governor as the Democratic candidate instead.
President Joe Biden has already promised his support of the bill should it pass the Senate and reach his desk. The bill would allow Biden to decide which countries are deemed “foreign adversaries” and thus ban their apps from app stores.
