By American Civil Liberties Union WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it would be voting on a bill this Thursday that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States. T…
Huh. I hadn’t considered that. I dislike the platform and liked the idea of it being blocked, but I hadn’t considered it as a limitation of free speech.
My issue is with information flowing to the Chinese government.
I understand that in the United States that information drain has been discontinued(as much as any American app discontinues information drain) but the fact that a few years ago, personal information was going straight from TikTok to the Chinese government who is actively seeking that information, and the app TikTok came from, douyin, still sends information to the Chinese government today like this is enough to give me pause.
To me, it’s not the same as Facebook or Instagram or whatever getting banned because of that direct and recent connection to the Chinese government.
If that were truly the issue, why not instead pass a law that prohibits transferring that kind of information to entities that could potentially share it without foreign powers?
Not really. They word it like that because laws need to look broad, but the purpose is to target TikTok.
One thing I’m absolutely worried about is the definition of “adversary” is too broad, and it could potentially be broadened to include any foreign country that doesn’t do whatever the US wants.
The “purpose” is to target TikTok, sure. But that doesn’t really matter as it could be used to enforce laws against any other company / country doing something similar. Laws are often used beyond the original intent.
Though if it’s not written broadly enough I believe it could be ruled unconstitutional.
Yeah, I’m not Constitutional lawyer, but that’s my impression as well. I’m guessing they’ll just adjust the definition of “adversary” to match their political aims though.
That’s been my position as well. I absolutely detest TikTok, refuse to use it, and consistently tell others to avoid it, but I cannot agree to banning it. People should be free to use what they want.
That said, it should be banned for government employees on government devices and on government networks (and perhaps on government property as well). That’s not a free speech issue, it’s a policy of the government as an employer, and government employees should absolutely be free to use it on personal devices.
Huh. I hadn’t considered that. I dislike the platform and liked the idea of it being blocked, but I hadn’t considered it as a limitation of free speech.
Begrudgingly, this changes my opinion.
My issue is with information flowing to the Chinese government.
I understand that in the United States that information drain has been discontinued(as much as any American app discontinues information drain) but the fact that a few years ago, personal information was going straight from TikTok to the Chinese government who is actively seeking that information, and the app TikTok came from, douyin, still sends information to the Chinese government today like this is enough to give me pause.
To me, it’s not the same as Facebook or Instagram or whatever getting banned because of that direct and recent connection to the Chinese government.
If that were truly the issue, why not instead pass a law that prohibits transferring that kind of information to entities that could potentially share it without foreign powers?
They mention tiktok a lot but the text of the bill reads “any foreign adversary controlled applications.” So I think it is more broad.
Not really. They word it like that because laws need to look broad, but the purpose is to target TikTok.
One thing I’m absolutely worried about is the definition of “adversary” is too broad, and it could potentially be broadened to include any foreign country that doesn’t do whatever the US wants.
The “purpose” is to target TikTok, sure. But that doesn’t really matter as it could be used to enforce laws against any other company / country doing something similar. Laws are often used beyond the original intent.
Though if it’s not written broadly enough I believe it could be ruled unconstitutional.
Yeah, I’m not Constitutional lawyer, but that’s my impression as well. I’m guessing they’ll just adjust the definition of “adversary” to match their political aims though.
That’s been my position as well. I absolutely detest TikTok, refuse to use it, and consistently tell others to avoid it, but I cannot agree to banning it. People should be free to use what they want.
That said, it should be banned for government employees on government devices and on government networks (and perhaps on government property as well). That’s not a free speech issue, it’s a policy of the government as an employer, and government employees should absolutely be free to use it on personal devices.
Can you really call it “free” speech if the algo that serves the content is controlled by an authoritarian from the other side of the globe?
Imo free speech is about not letting governing bodies control expression, not sure if tiktok produces the speech or if it’s just a hosting platform?
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