The TikTok ban is a complete disregard for the rights and freedoms of the American people. The ban is NOT about national security, but rather, the final attempt to prevent the people from connecting on an uncensored platform without backdoor government censorship. The law in question goes beyond TikTok as the government will only permit social platforms based in the US, therefore controlling the narrative and information the people can receive.
It is not about privacy from the Chinese government. TikTok is not even available in mainland China as their version is heavily censored. TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a private company that is not owned by the Chinese government. About 60% of the company is owned by institutional investors, 20% is owned by the founder, and the other 20% is owned by employees. ByteDance has five board members and three of them are American. Their headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles, and they have 7,000 employees in the US.
Congress has been unable to comprehend that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is Singaporean and not a member of the Chinese Communist Party or even Chinese. Unbelievable.
Over 170 million Americans currently use TikTok. TikTok contributed $24.3 billion to the US economy in 2023, with 2024 estimates coming in higher. The majority of that money comes from 6 MILLION SMALL BUSINESSES that rely on TikTok to generate sales. Those 7 million businesses compose 20% of ALL BUSINESSES IN THE US.
Media outlets claim the Supreme Court is strongly siding with Congress, but that is simply not the case. The Supreme Court questioned whether this new law would infringe on the First Amendment. Government claims it is about national security and data. Yet, Chinese-owned online stores are allowed to operate in the US, for example, and they compile user data. Certain stores like SHEIN collect user’s social media data as well. Lawyers for TikTok believe they are being singled out because the people are posting content on the app, therefore, exercising their 1A rights.
(RFK discussed the potential ban back in 2023. EVERY LIBERTY WE SURRENDER IS IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY)
Government claims that the Chinese could influence the content to influence the American people. In that case, the concern is truly the content creation and not the data collection.
It is OK when the US government collects your data without warning. Mark Zuckerberg has been lobbying to ban TikTok for years. He permitted the establishment to use META/Facebook as a massive propaganda tool to influence politics and the overall narrative. The government was permitted to use his app to silence the people instantaneously.
It is of no coincidence that the ban will take place one day before Donald Trump takes office. Trump had asked the Supreme Court to hold off on the ruling until he had time to sort things out. Simply put, you cannot take away the circus before the people can afford bread. People cannot afford basic living essentials, and the government is prioritizing taking away one of the last forms of free entertainment and education that the people have left. Countless readers of this blog have sent me videos over the years of on-the-ground footage of events that the media fails to cover. People may speak freely on TikTok and that threatens the establishment.
We are not so different from North Korea. Our government is taking extreme measures to censor our ability to connect with others and share information. The government tells us what is real and false. “Misinformation” is the information that goes against the current narrative. We are not to question our leaders. The US market is only a fraction of TikTok’s international audience and it may not be in their best interest to sell. It also seems as if the current CEO would rather have his platform go dark for US users than allow Washington to use his platform as yet another propaganda tool.
