FreeSpeech and Censorship: Thread

[grarpamp]

"Digital Fentanyl": Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Ban TikTok

https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/1ebac814-157e-4e26-81b9-d9aa3fd96ae3/5861AFCCFDC5254BAFEE5BB2BDA54B32.hey22c36.pdf
https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Press-Releases&id=D1C2E147-3A23-4F49-AC27-268572AABDCD

A group of bipartisan lawmakers led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has
introduced legislation that would completely ban the social media app
TikTok from operating in the United States.

"TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese
law to make the app’s data available to the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP)," reads a Tuesday statement from Rubio's office. "From the FBI
Director to FCC Commissioners to cybersecurity experts, everyone has
made clear the risk of TikTok being used to spy on Americans. "

Rubio - who introduced the Averting the National Threat of Internet
Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic
Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act) - is
joined by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL),
who introduced companion legislation in the US House of
Representatives.

"TikTok is digital fentanyl that’s addicting Americans, collecting
troves of their data, and censoring their news," said Gallagher. "It’s
also an increasingly powerful media company that’s owned by ByteDance,
which ultimately reports to the Chinese Communist Party – America’s
foremost adversary."

    Allowing the app to continue to operate in the U.S. would be like
allowing the U.S.S.R. to buy up the New York Times, Washington Post,
and major broadcast networks during the Cold War. No country with even
a passing interest in its own security would allow this to happen,
which is why it’s time to ban TikTok and any other CCP-controlled app
before it’s too late. -Rep. Mike Gallagher.

The app has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, including a
lawsuit from the state of Indiana, a ban in South Dakota, calls to ban
TikTok 'everywhere,' and hitting a major snag in negotiations with the
Biden administration over national security concerns.

One of the primary issues with TikTok - owned by Chinese company
ByteDance, is where user data is housed.

Both ByteDance and US officials struck a preliminary agreement that
TikTok data on US users would be hosted by Oracle Corp. TikTok,
meanwhile, says it will delete the private data of US users from its
own data centers in Virginia and Singapore as it transitions to fully
store data with Oracle. The company has also said that access to US
data by anyone outside of a newly established division to govern US
data security would be limited by, and subject to, its protocols -
which would be overseen by Oracle.

Certain administration officials, however, still aren't comfortable
with the arrangement, and have sought to make any TikTok security
agreement stronger in some respects over concerns with the company's
access to consumer data, and its potential use for influence
operations.

"The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to
protect American users from the threat of TikTok. This isn’t about
creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens
of millions of American children and adults every day," said Rubio on
Tuesday. "We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence
elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China. There
is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet
company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good."

Republicans have been pushing to ban the app altogether.

TikTok claims it doesn't collect data on search and browsing history
outside the app, though it does collect information within the app so
that it 'functions correctly,' said the spokeswoman. For example,
returning relevant search results and ensuring users don't see the
same videos multiple times.

Former US President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok unless it was a
US-owned entity - which President Biden rescinded shortly after taking
office in light of legal challenges.