46
Edit:
- added source, added direct link to video
- added additional replies from Glenn on subject
- fixed wording of edit to reflect replies of Glenn were added
@ggreenwald
Both the Economist and the WSJ state explicitly that the main reason the TikTok ban picked up so much bipartisan steam in DC since Oct. 7 was because of how much Israel criticism was allowed to air and circulate on the platform (see below).
But really! It's all about China!
@benshapiro
The House has voted to separate TikTok from its Chinese Communist Party ownership. It’s nice to see a bit of bipartisan sanity once in awhile.
Direct link to video (should work for a bit): https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1768310919887536135/vid/avc1/1280x720/4zWnNyjVkmz0yRc9.mp4?tag=14
Source: https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1768382962360283559
Additionial information by Glenn:
The articles cite "people" and a single analyst concerned about content, but no lawmakers.
I understand people are concerned with 1st amendment issues, but I do not see any issues with free expression here. Individual US citizens have the right to free speech in America, including the right to spread CCP propaganda. Foreign companies do not have this 1st amendment right. Also, individuals do not have a right to use a specific privately-held platform for expression. If this right existed, the government would have to bail out a bankrupt platform to keep it operational.
This bill is regulating a corporation. In my view, we should do more to distinguish corporate rights from individual rights, end corporate personhood, and hit all companies, including social media companies, with many more regulations. This bill is a step in that direction, and hopefully a prelude to data privacy bills.
The problem is the things they get mad at TikTok for is basically the same stuff other social media platforms do, but they do it for the US government so it's fine. I think banning TikTok or forcing it to change is great but the same should be applied to Google, Meta, and others to ensure that these companies can't violate users' privacy by gathering all of this data and just letting governments have it. But no they don't argue that, instead they just focus on oh no China is doing all these bad things and we have to stop them, not acknowledging their government agencies do the same type of spying.