Proposed TikTok ban dies in Virginia’s Democratic-controlled House

The Democratic-controlled Virginia Legislature let a bill die this week that would have banned video-streaming app TikTok for children in the state.

Republican Del. Jay Leftwich sponsored the bill last month, but it was left in a House of Delegates committee this week. The Associated Press noted the bill went through numerous revisions, adding that its latest version said TikTok and ByteDance, the platform’s Beijing-based parent company, “shall not provide access to TikTok to any child within the Commonwealth.”

“The whole platform — especially for minors — is to get them engaged and kind of hooked into watching these things. And it leads them down different rabbit holes, and they sit there for hours and hours watching these things,” Leftwich said in a committee hearing, The AP reported.

Since the bill did not move forward in the committee, it essentially died when it did not make a procedural deadline Tuesday requiring most legislation to clear its chamber of origin, according to the AP.

Under the bill, a parent or legal guardian could have brought a lawsuit against TikTok if a child was granted access to the popular video-streaming platform. The plaintiff could recover up to $75,000 in damages for “each discrete violation” if they won their case. A “discrete violation” is defined as “each separate instance that a child accesses TikTok.”

TikTok has come under scrutiny for potential harms children and teenagers may face on the platform and has issued its own precautions for users under 18.

“We work hard to support teens’ well-being on TikTok with an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18, restrictions on direct messaging, parental controls, and more,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.

“We’ve long said bans, like the one proposed in this legislation, are not only the wrong approach, but also raise significant First Amendment concerns,” the statement continued.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said in a December speech that he would push for legislation to ban TikTok for those under the age of 18. He signed an executive order in 2022 banning TikTok from government devices in the state — a move that other states and the federal government have also taken.

“Governor Youngkin remains committed to empowering parents in Virginia and protecting youth in the Commonwealth from social media’s harmful impacts,” Macaulay Porter, Youngkin’s deputy communications director, said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to Leftwich’s office for comment.