Beyond a TikTok ban: Warren touts bill to rein in social media giants

As Congress grapples with the future of TikTok in the United States, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pushing for greater oversight of all social media companies with a bipartisan bill that would cover issues from foreign ownership to protecting consumers' personal data.

"I get why there are special concerns about foreign ownership," Warren said Monday in an appearance on WBUR's Radio Boston. "But understand this: Changing ownership structure alone is not going to fix this problem."

Warren said the larger problem is a lack of regulation on social media companies as a whole.

"We need to change overall so that it's no longer the case that social media companies are the one place where it's the Wild West, and they have no regulation of any kind," Warren said. "There's no other industry that gets to do that."

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless the social media app's Chinese parent company sells the platform within six months. Warren is touting a bill she wrote with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, that she said would curb certain overarching challenges presented by the rise of giant social media companies.

The bill would, in part, create a bipartisan regulator charged with monitoring and "policing" big-tech companies to "protect consumers, promote competition, secure Americans’ privacy, guard national security, and prevent harm online," according to a release from Warren's office. It would guarantee users have the right to know know when their personal data is collected and what it's being used for and would limit targeted advertising based on personal data, the release says.

The bill also would require major platforms to be owned by U.S. citizens or subsidiaries, mitigating the need for a specific TikTok ban.

"Let's not just pick one company and say it presents a problem. If people are stealing your data and selling it, that's a problem, regardless of the company," Warren said.

In the wide-ranging discussion, Warren promoted a free online tax-filing service offered through the IRS that's open to some filers in Massachusetts and 11 other states. The pilot program allows taxpayers filing simple returns to avoid the cost of paying services like TurboTax to file taxes.

"I've been pushing for this for years: Save money, make it easier, make it secure. And you know who's been fighting me every inch of the way are these big tax preparation companies that literally make billions of dollars off people who are just trying to pay their taxes," Warren said.

She also talked about a case before the Supreme Court challenging the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, a drug approved over 20 years ago that's commonly used in medication abortions. The high court is set to hear arguments Tuesday about whether access to the medication should be limited based on the drug's initial approval process and overall safety.

Warren said that the same Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in a 2022 decision are "being invited by extremists to take away the decision-making authority of the scientists" at the FDA who initially approved the medication.

The Senator said further she is worried about the ruling, not only for its potential to limit access to abortions, but for access to other medications like those that treat HIV or are used for gender affirming care.