If the bill's supporters get what they want, millions of Americans would find their ability to access TikTok terminated by the government, just in time for the November 2024 election. This radical state intervention was endorsed last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a unanimous 50-0 vote, establishing a coveted bipartisan consensus in favor of expelling American users from their preferred social media platform. This extreme action is to be carried out, as usual, in the alleged name of "national security," and to more aggressively combat perceived "foreign adversaries."
The bill names TikTok as a "foreign adversary controlled application," with the "adversary" in question being China, but it also goes further and prohibits "applications" associated with the standard litany of official U.S. "adversaries"—Russia, North Korea, and Iran. More additions to the list are always possible, perhaps in the event that Cuba or Venezuela develop a short-form dance video app that becomes suspiciously popular with American teens.
Another provision authorizes the President, who is currently Joe Biden and may soon be Donald Trump, to make unilateral determinations about whether certain applications "present a significant threat to the national security of the United States," and therefore must be banned like TikTok. The criteria for making such a determination is left conspicuously vague.
So if you really want to give Biden or Trump more unilateral power to control the proliferation of content online, this appears to be just the bill for you.
@CentristStellaNo Labels2wks2W
YOU can stop the NSA from taking over the internet—Senators are now afraid to vote for the "Everyone is a spy" RISAA Bill due to the overwhelming public opposition, but the White House is fighting HARD to whip them into line. If you haven't yet, PLEASE call your Senator NOW!
Americans have learned a great deal about their own country and Israel, and a host of other things on Tik Tok over the last few years, so, naturally, it has to be made unavailable to American citizens, to “protect our freedoms”. Straight out of “1984”.
Again. Tik Tok may be fine for many. Personally? I don't want an an app that demands having privileges to access my entire computer. I've attempted to dl it so I already know what it requires.
@BipartisanMartyPatriot2wks2W
These people really want X out of the picture before the elections.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
Do you think it's fair for a government to ban certain social media platforms based on where they come from?
@9LNWG582wks2W
No if that's the case lets ban certain news outlets.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
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