Republicans plan vote on TikTok ‘ban,’ defying Trump

Semafor ^ | Mar 8, 2024 | Kadia Goba and Morgan Chalfant

[MinorityRepublican]

House Republican leadership is moving forward with a vote on a bipartisan bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok — or face a ban — next Wednesday, despite former President Donald Trump’s public opposition to the measure.

House Republican leaders huddled Friday morning to confirm the House would move forward on the TikTok bill with plans to bring it to the House floor under suspension, a maneuver that speeds the process and limits amendments to bills that can win a two-thirds majority vote, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

The legislation from Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the leaders of the House Select Committee on China, would force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell off TikTok within 180 days or otherwise would effectively ban the app in the U.S. by penalizing app stores that host it.

[SuperLuminal]

Yes indeed!
Absolutely nothing can stand in the way of the perpetual GOP circle jerk...

Losers lose...

[tired&retired]

“President Joe Biden has revoked an executive order from his predecessor Donald Trump banning Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat in the US.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57413227

[tired&retired]

Reuters news agency reported on Saturday that ByteDance had agreed to completely divest TikTok’s US operations. Previously the Chinese company had sought to keep a minority stake, with Microsoft reportedly in talks to buy the app.
But sources quoted by Reuters said ByteDance would exit completely and Microsoft Corp would take over TikTok in the US.

The move to ban TikTok comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the Chinese government over a number of issues, including trade disputes and Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53622799

[Right_Wing_Madman]

But sources quoted by Reuters said ByteDance would exit completely and Microsoft Corp would take over TikTok in the US.

Sounds awful. Thanks for the Deep State invite, but I'll decline.

[escapefromboston]

Doesnt TikTok know that only the American government is allowed to spy on Americans ! I’m guessing the site is one of the only popular social media apps that doesn’t give back door access to the fbi/cia to spy on its users.
Are we really worried about China stealing our awesome dance moves ? Or whatever teens post on tik tok

[momincombatboots]

And Disney groomers and bud lights granny normalization. But hey, he banned bumpstocks, locked us down and signed a blank check to big pharma.

[guinness4strength]

They are wasting tax payer money with this. The high courts will NEVER take away freedom of speech from 170 million American’s with NO EVIDENCE of wrongdoing.

Trump is RIGHT - Facebook was the big offender of fake news, not tiktok.

The anti-tiktok politicians are a bunch of of wimpy wind-bags.

[mmichaels1970]

The proof is what happened yesterday When TikTok phone app popped up a request to every user to contact their representative to vote against the bill. Along with a button to automatically place a call to their representative based on their phones location.

Agreed.

[guinness4strength]

Here's all you need to know from another article by cnn: Does the bill violate the First Amendment? Civil society groups say that even if the bill’s actual text doesn’t directly censor TikTok or its users, it still has the ultimate effect of doing so. “There’s no denying that it would do just that,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “We strongly urge legislators to vote no on this unconstitutional bill.” The bill’s primary mechanic — setting up a choice for TikTok that could lead to a ban — is really a sleight of hand that courts will see through instantly, according to First Amendment experts. Ken White, a First Amendment litigator at the law firm Brown White & Osborn, said courts can and do look at whether the functional effect of a law is to stifle speech, not just what the text of the law says. Lawmakers may try to say the bill regulates TikTok’s foreign ownership, not content. But, White said, “’foreign influence’ aren’t magic words that get you out of First Amendment problems. It’s not at all clear that Congress’ fig leaf of an excuse will work.” An important part of First Amendment scrutiny will be whether lawmakers could have achieved their goals through a “less restrictive alternative” to a flat-out ban, said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Passing a nationwide privacy law regulating how all companies, not just TikTok, handle Americans’ data would lead to the same result without raising First Amendment concerns, he said. Setting that aside, courts have held that Americans have a constitutional right to receive foreign propaganda, even if the US government doesn’t like it. By that precedent, it would be unconstitutional for the government to ban TikTok even if it were blatantly a direct mouthpiece for the Chinese government, Jaffer said. “If you give the government the power to restrict Americans’ access to propaganda,” he said, “then you’ve given the government the power to restrict Americans’ access to anything the government deems to be propaganda.”

[mmichaels1970]

We should do no business with the commie scumbag Chinese, who unleashed biological warfare on us less than five years ago. We should erase all debt, and divest from anything they are involved in.

[Openurmind]

First TikTok... Next up the Free Republic. Once they are given that legal power there will be no limits to what they can use it for.

“The proof is what happened yesterday When TikTok phone app popped up a request to every user to contact their representative to vote against the bill.”

What would the Free Republic do if we were in their shoes?

[Openurmind]

“I am shocked at the people defending Tik-Tok on FR now that Trump did a 180 on this.”

I don’t see this. It has nothing to do with just TikTok. What I see is the intelligent forethought that once “any domain period” is selectively controlled by government violation of the first amendment the Free Republic is next on the chopping block.

It is an absolute no brainer that once you give them an inch of power with legislative precedent they will take a mile. We better be wary of what we ask for here, no one will have immunity and there will be no stopping them.

[mmichaels1970]

What would the Free Republic do if we were in their shoes?

The Chicoms do not run or have an ownership stake in FR. Better analogy imho: what would we do if this were the 80s and there were Soviet newspapers in every third mailbox.

[Openurmind]

“The high courts will NEVER take away freedom of speech from 170 million American’s with NO EVIDENCE of wrongdoing.”

Yes they will... And they are just biting at the bit to have this control over the internet and domains... Including the FR and others like it. Everything that questions government.

[Openurmind]

It has absolutely nothing to do with who owns it period. Once this power is allowed government it will be used for any domain and anyone who questions their sole power over the internet.

Including Conservative and Christian domains. They are NOT going to stop at just Chinese or Russian domains. It will be any and every domain they deem a threat to their power over the people.

Anyone who thinks they will actually stop at just TikTok is dumber than a box of rocks... When have they never abused a power once allowed? They ALWAYS do just as sure as the sun will come up.

[dforest]

Thank you. Obviously banning TicTok plays right into the hands of the Biden regime and repukes will have only themselves to blame.

I imagine this is why Trump is now against this bill.

[Baldwin77]

This country is done.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The Florida legislature tried to do something in which all youngsters under 16 would be banned from having social media accounts, period. Fortunately, DeSantis vetoed it.

I wouldn’t have minded banning that age group from social media apps created by our enemies, such as Red China. Who knows how those actors are trying to manipulate our kids. But banning them from ALL social media? Leave that one up to the parents.

[mmichaels1970]

Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok 8/6/2020

[snip] TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., has reportedly been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally. TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information — potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage. [/snip]

I agree with every word of this.

[Openurmind]

And thank you for having the intelligence to see the true threat with opening this door. We have to remember we have been labelled domestic terrorists and a threat to democracy. We absolutely will be next on the chopping block just as soon as they can use this new self given authority. And the Republican reps will enjoy this new power over the internet just as much as the Democrats will. Because they can blame it on the Democrats without self accountability. They are also all in for the New World Order.