In a significant move addressing national security concerns, President Joe Biden has expressed his support for a bipartisan bill that could potentially ban TikTok from operating in the United States. The President’s endorsement came during a statement to reporters outside Air Force One, where he affirmed his intention to sign the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act if Congress successfully passes the bill.
What the hell though!!! I’m sure there are many other bills the congress could pass, why are they so fixated on this on?- CountessViktoria
The momentum behind this legislative effort was evident as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously approved the bill in a decisive 50–0 vote on March 7. If enacted into law, this legislation would empower the President to compel the divestiture of social media companies in the U.S. that are more than 20 percent controlled by one of four specified nations or their affiliated entities—China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
At the forefront of the targeted companies is TikTok, the social media giant owned by the China-based ByteDance. Concerns raised by security experts have long centered around the potential weaponization of TikTok, with fears that it could be exploited to promote Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda or compromise the personal data of American users.
Notably, TikTok officials have previously acknowledged complying with requests from the Chinese regime to suppress and manipulate content, though they maintain that such practices are no longer in effect. Concurrently, the U.S. government is currently investigating ByteDance for alleged misuse of TikTok geolocation data, particularly in incidents involving the stalking and harassment of American journalists reporting on the company’s ties to the CCP.
Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), emphasized the necessity of the bill in curbing the CCP’s attempts to “target, surveil, and manipulate Americans.” She outlined the ultimatum given to TikTok: either divest from its parent company, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, or face a ban. Rodgers argued that companies under the control of foreign adversaries, such as the CCP, would never fully embrace American values, including freedom of speech, human rights, the rule of law, and a free press.
The situation takes a nuanced turn as President Biden’s reelection campaign controversially joined TikTok last month, despite the app being banned on government devices for national security reasons. This decision has prompted some members of Congress to question the President’s commitment to passing the TikTok bill. Representative Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) expressed skepticism, suggesting that the Biden administration’s actions contradicted its words.
“The Biden administration says one thing and does another,” Norman asserted, highlighting the incongruity of opening an account on a platform slated for potential abolition. He underscored the need for a comprehensive separation from China, emphasizing the importance of preventing Chinese influence on the minds of both young people and adults.
As the debate over TikTok’s future in the United States intensifies, it remains to be seen whether Congress will pass the bipartisan bill and whether President Biden will indeed follow through on his commitment to sign it into law. The intersection of national security, technological influence, and political decisions underscores the complexity of addressing these issues in an interconnected world.
Brendan Carr wrote: As Congress moves to require TikTok to divest its ties to the CCP, good questions have been raised about whether privacy laws could address TikTok’s threat. They can’t. Privacy or data flow laws are not the same as national security laws. They solve different problems. Just look at Europe. The E.U. has enacted some of the strictest data privacy and data flow laws in the world. Yet it has also taken separate actions to ban TikTok from official devices to address national security concerns. Those TikTok bans in Europe would have been unnecessary if privacy laws alone were adequate to address the security risks posed by untrustworthy actors.
They are not. Indeed, TikTok has demonstrated—repeatedly—that only a structural remedy will be sufficient in its case. For instance, after reporting exposed that TikTok had been misrepresenting its data flows back into Beijing, TikTok told lawmakers that it was changing its ways and walling off U.S. user data from Beijing. Had TikTok abided by that public representation, it would have been some evidence that TikTok’s issues could be addressed through data flow protections. But of course, TikTok had not changed its ways. As the WSJ found, TikTok just kept on sharing sensitive U.S. data with China. Same with TikTok enabling Beijing-based personnel to spy on Americans. TikTok denied those reports initially, but then was forced to confess that, yes, it had illicitly surveilled the locations of specific Americans despite its representations to lawmakers and despite the fact that it was actively negotiating with U.S. nat sec officials – meaning, TikTok had every incentive to operate in a trustworthy manner. It still didn’t.
Why? Because TikTok is different than other social media companies. It is different because, as the evidence conclusively establishes, it is beholden to the CCP. Should the U.S. revise its privacy laws across the board? No objection from me. And acting on TikTok now provides an opportunity to build momentum towards that. But privacy laws alone would not offer any response to TikTok’s national security threat—only a structural remedy that breaks it free from the CCP’s controls would do that. (tweet)
Major Points Discussed:
- President Biden supports bipartisan bill to potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. for national security reasons.
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously approves the bill, granting the president authority to force divestiture of social media companies with over 20% control from China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.
- TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, faces scrutiny as security experts warn of its potential weaponization and ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda.
- Investigations into ByteDance involve allegations of TikTok using geolocation data to stalk and harass American journalists reporting on CCP connections.
- President Biden’s reelection campaign’s controversial decision to join TikTok raises questions in Congress about the administration’s commitment to passing the bill, with concerns voiced about potential contradictions in actions and statements.
James Kravitz
Comments – Threads – Links
- They seem addicted. Maybe if they didn’t blast that shit on the subway like they’re at home, then we’d care-It’s bookay!
- What will people do without it- Millee
- Let’s get rid of it. We can’t trust it- Mark Zuckerberg – Parody
- He’s right for this! We have had far too many school tiktokings in this country! It’s time we stand up and protect the children- wema
- He just lost half his voters smh- The Treach & Romeo News Podcast