Rand Paul rips TikTok ban as 'authoritarian' action

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Friday that banning TikTok is the act of an “authoritarian” nation.

“I’ve never been in favor of banning speech,” Paul told Fox News’s Fox & Friends. “About 170 million Americans use this app, and the interesting thing is, occasionally, the people who want to ban TikTok will say, ‘The Chinese ban our apps in their country.’ Well, yes, because they’re an authoritarian country. We are not an authoritarian country, and, so, we shouldn’t ban speech.”