TikTok-ban saga, reloaded… The US government’s been talking about banning TikTok for years over national-security concerns with the Chinese-owned app. The possibility just got more real: yesterday a bill that would give Biden the power to ban TikTok was on track to pass a key House committee vote. If it is greenlighted by Congress, it could lead to a Tok-less life for the 100M Americans using the app.
For You-page tunnel vision… Supporters of the ban say that TikTok is a tool that the Chinese Communist Party can use to monitor and manipulate Americans (think: weaponizing data, spreading misinfo). Critics like the ACLU argue that a broad ban would amount to censorship of free speech, violating the First Amendment. Meanwhile:
It’s a messy Tok situation… The US has criticized China for being a censorship state (Google, Twitter, Facebook, and even TikTok itself are banned there). Now the US wants to ban a social-media app… but for national-security reasons. If TikTok actually poses a serious security threat, there’s a lot at stake: over two-thirds of American teens use TikTok, and a third of US TikTok users say they regularly get their news on the app.