The House of Representatives on Saturday passed what could be landmark legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States unless its parent company agrees to sell the video-sharing app to a U.S.-based company. Some have taken this development as a sign that it is “inevitable” that the bill will become the law of the land.
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The proposed legislation, which has its share of proponents and detractors, is aimed at preventing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from covertly accessing the data of Americans using the app. If it becomes law, it could become a pivotal moment related to government involvement in digital communication.
The ban was tied to the vote on a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and has gotten comparatively little attention.
The TikTok bill passed by a vote of 360 to 58…
Roughly 150 million Americans are on TikTok and there have been growing fears among lawmakers about what influence its Chinese Communist owners have on the company.
The app has become quite controversial over recent years. Many of its users promoted Osama Bin Laden and spread pro-Hamas propaganda on the social media platform.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told reporters that the legislation “represents a bipartisan breakthrough against the CCP’s most powerful tool of information warfare against the United States” and vowed that Congress would not “stand by idly while the CCP freely weaponizes TikTok to corrupt the minds of young Americans, r adicalize Americans against their own country, and amplify antisemitism on a scale and at a pace not seen in human history.”
Critics and supporters both present compelling arguments for and against the measures. RedState’s Ben Kew supports the ban, arguing that “Pulling back from a clamp down on Tiktok would be a major mistake” because the app “is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and poses a genuine threat to national security through its ability to spy and collect data on the unsuspecting.”
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Yet even more importantly, its unique algorithm gives the CCP the opportunity to manipulate the worldview of young people not only in America but across the world. Allowing China to maintain this level of influence over Americans is an unacceptable state of affairs.
On the other hand, RedState’s Matt Funicello offers a counterpoint, arguing that it is not the government’s job “to dictate to you or me how we can use or consume social media” or “protect us from ourselves” while also suggesting that “it is the duty of the government to protect you and me from the threats of invasion or attack by outside forces.”
However, what are you giving up to China and others by using TikTok, that you already are giving up to the Federal Government and anyone in the world who will pay for the data? The answer should shock you: everything. Every day, the overwhelming majority of Americans are sending their personal data to the highest bidder without knowing or caring.
RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar indicated that she does not think the app should be banned, but wrote a very detailed and compelling piece making the case for conservatives to avoid using the platform. She explains why RedState and other Townhall Media sites avoid using TikTok.
I’ve never been tempted to install TikTok on any of my devices; you also won’t find RedState or any of the Townhall Media sites on the Chinese Communist Party-beholden app. That’s an intentional decision. We don’t want to promote the use of an app that makes user data available to a hostile foreign government. And yes, while some who seemingly understand the CCP threat contend otherwise (in a very legalistic/hair-splitting way), it’s pretty obvious that TikTok is essentially a CCP spy app.
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As stated previously, there are myriad valid arguments on both sides of the issue. If the bill is signed into law and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, agrees to sell the app to a U.S.-based company, it would likely quell fears of CCP spying. However, one thing is clear: It won’t do anything to address the fact that our own government will continue spying on us.