The TikTok bill hands the president enormous power to ban speech on any spurious claim that a speech platform is under the influence of “foreign adversaries.” There will be nothing left of First Amendment speech protection if this bill goes through. From Bert Olivier at brownstone.org:
I wonder how many people have recoiled with horror at what happened in the House of Representatives recently. I am referring to the decision, effectively, to ban the social media platform, TikTok, in the United States (to ‘protect Americans from foreign adversaries’), because it supposedly affords the Chinese government the opportunity to ‘spy’ on Americans and manipulate their thinking.
Well, one thing is sure – judging by the margin by which this motion was adopted by the House, and the quality of some of the opinions aired on the topic (that I have listened to), there was precious little thinking going on around the room, with some notable exceptions (352 votes for, 65 against), such as Representative Thomas Massie (R) of Kentucky. What thinking there was – such as the excellent argument put forward by Massie – was not sufficient to sway the rest of the delegates in the direction of common sense.
So what was this non-debate about TikTok all about? Most readers would probably already know about it, but it bears repeating, lest the intricacies of the hidden assumptions escape one’s attention. In sum, as mentioned earlier, it comes down to the claim that China is using TikTok to spy on American citizens, and in addition to influence their thinking and behaviour. This, despite the glaring fact that – as Clayton and Natali Morris argue in the first video linked above – the US spies on its own citizens with impunity, not to mention that it also conducts espionage on China.
The two investigative reporters of Redacted further highlight the remarkable speed with which the US Congress has addressed the putatively urgent issue concerning TikTok, while allowing the arguably far more urgent matter of thousands of illegal immigrants streaming across the American border to continue unabated. The further irony is, of course – also stressed by the Morris duo – that these illegal immigrants include a far more salient ‘Chinese threat;’ namely, the large numbers of young, ‘military age’ Chinese men. And yet, the border issue is clearly not seen in the same light of urgency as TikTok!
The younger demographic is really turning against the CPUSA (D) kabuki wing of the UNI-Party club that we aren’t in.
They love CCP-Tok and don’t care for the Gaza situation, even Slick, Barry and others got heckled at the peoples champagne limousine liberal shindig in NYC recently.
McCarthy was right about some of it as the State Department was infiltrated almost 100 years ago and AJ was probably trolling with that Arabs own Hollywood remark.
The new McC will be shirking against the New Civility hive or bitterly clinging to a long gone never to return America 1.0?