Posted on 11/10/2023 10:06:51 AM PST by RandFan
In March, Senator Rand Paul blocked an attempt to ban TikTok from being used in the United States.
This week, he did it again.
Ten months ago it was Republican Senator Josh Hawley who wanted a ban. On Wednesday, it was Hawley again.
Hawley requested unanimous consent to pass his bill that would basically prevent TikTok from being used in the United States by imposing sanctions on TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Limited, citing alleged privacy violations he believes constitute a national security threat.
Paul objected, thinking the ban was a stupid idea. He pointed out that banning the app, which an estimated 76% of Americans age 18-24 use, would forever turn off a generation to the ideas of Republicans.
Paul also contrasted Hawley’s move with recent censorship efforts by the Left.
“The banning TikTok strategy… comes while the GOP simultaneously complains of liberal U.S. social media companies canceling and censoring conservatives. So without a hint of irony, many of these same, quote, conservatives now agitate to censor viewpoints they don’t like,” Paul said.
“The concern over TikTok seems to be over what the social media platform might do, propagating hysteria and fear of subtle communist subversion from the People’s Republic of China,” he added.
Paul asked why would America try to adopt laws similar to authoritarian China.
“Do we really want to emulate China’s speech bans?” he asked. “Do we want to intrude on the lives of Americans, deprive them of their First Amendment right to receive and consider information?”
Back in March, Reuters noted of the proposed TikTok and other app bans, “Senators Mark Warner, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican, have proposed the RESTRICT Act, which now has 22 Senate cosponsors, to give the Commerce Department power to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks. It would apply to foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.”
Paul said at the time that the bill “would basically be a limitless authority for the president to ban speech.”
That’s a good one
TikTok should be banned for the CCP spy tech that it is.
Oracle was to take it over, but Joseph Stolen killed the deal
Rand is right - first thing they’ll do is use the precedent to ban Gab and other conservative social media outlets.
I thought Trump did ban it. I guess Chayna Joe overturned that.
Wow. I didn’t know that.
So it could have been in US hands? And he stopped it?
Parents need to be parents again-—problem solved!
I looked at TikTok but not for me. I hated the website and most things about it.
Come to think of it I’ve never posted a TikTok link or video and I don’t even recall seeing one here before? 🤔
yes
i thought the problem was data collection
youtube has something called shorts
it can be addicting
You mean ‘AdTube’
It’s getting ridiculous on there now the amount of ads
My kids use it from time to time, but they’re in their late 20’s and know what “Tik Tok” is all about.
Good. Hawley is pandering. The SOLE reason they want to ban TikToc is that is superior in every way to Zuckerburg’s Instagram, Facebook, or Elons X. So it exploded in Market share.
So Zuck called his paid congressmen and told them to DO SOMETHING!
When this whole thing exploded last spring, I thought I’d look for myself. I find it to be wholesome and fun. When you scroll Facebook and X, you come away agitated and unhappy.
With TikToc, I get a stream of cooking ideas, positive takes on happy marriage, dogs and animals, travel, Jordan Peterson, Christianity, history stories, etc.
The main problem is that it can be addicting. But oddly, after a session, you don’t walk away pissed off.
And as for security, what a joke. The US Government has no problem with Google, Zuckerburg, Bezos, etc sucking in all your data and giving it to the government.
I’m with Rand on this. This is US companies using government to crush a competitor.
To repeat, the greatest threat to our lives, liberties, and well being is no Tik Tok, China, or the Man in the Moon.
The greatest threat to our lives, liberties, and well being is the $3+ trillion, 80%+ unconstitutional portion of the federal government which is now totalitarian and MUST be dismantled before it dismantles us.
“Sens Mark Warner, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican, proposed the RESTRICT Act, w/ 22 Senate cosponsors, to give the Commerce Dept power to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok...... and other technologies that pose national security risks. It would apply to foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.”
Rand Paul said at the time that he opposed the bill b/c
it “would basically be a limitless authority for the president.”
No. Censorship is never the answer. Ban TikTok, and they’ll just move onto something else.
It’s trainable. If you are really into violin music, growing better roses, positive thinking, and making a better pie crust, that is what TikToc will feed you.
If you like hunting, prepping, old movies, beagles, and old cars, THAT is what you will get more of.
I found it to be a positive experience. Waiting for someone to call me a Chinaman now.
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