Joe Biden’s hypocrisy on TikTok – Orange County Register

President Biden’s campaign will continue to use the popular social media site TikTok, even though the president supported a provision in the military aid bill he recently signed requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok within 270 days. If ByteDance does not sell TikTok within the required time frame, TikTok will be banned in the United States. Biden’s continued use of TikTok to reach TikTok’s estimated 150 million U.S. users is not the only example of hypocrisy on the part of politicians who support banning TikTok.

The ban on TikTok was prompted by claims that because ByteDance is a Chinese company, TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government and, therefore. helps the Chinese government collect data on American citizens. However, the only connection between ByteDance and the Chinese government is through a Chinese government-controlled company that owns a small amount of stock in a separate ByteDance operation. Additionally, ByteDance stores its data in a US facility not accessible to the Chinese government.

Just days before passing the TikTok ban, the same Senate that is so concerned about TikTok’s alleged violations of Americans’ privacy passed the FISA reauthorization bill. This bill not only expanded existing powers for wiretapping and warrantless surveillance, but it also made it easier for government agencies to spy on American citizens. To do this, he required anyone with access to a targeted person’s electronic device to cooperate with intelligence agencies.

Supporters of banning TikTok have also raised concerns about the site’s “content moderation” policies. These policies would ban posts embarrassing to the Chinese government, such as those related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square confrontation or the Free Tibet movement.

TikTok, like most social media platforms, engages in content moderation. The TikTok ban was supported by Democrats, including President Biden, who has a history of “encouraging” social media companies to censor Americans who block them from using social media to spread ” fake news.”

Fake news is defined as anything that contradicts the Democratic or “woke” agenda, including the truth about the origins, dangers, and treatments of Covid; whether democracy was really threatened on January 6; and the complete history of Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

One of the main reasons for the strong bipartisan support for banning TikTok is the desire to engage in a cold war with China. ByteDance’s connection to China makes it an ideal target to help stir up anti-Chinese sentiment. Unfortunately, anti-China hysteria is a bipartisan phenomenon and has even infected some politicians who take common-sense positions on U.S. intervention in Ukraine.

Another major reason the TikTok ban has strong bipartisan support is that the site is used by many young people to share information about the Israeli government’s action in Gaza. The head of the Anti-Defamation League was actually filmed complaining about the “TikTok problem.” This use of TikTok has made TikTok a target for many politicians who believe the First Amendment makes an exception for speech critical of Israel.

The positive side of the TikTok ban is that it wakes up more Americans, especially younger Americans, to the threat that the uncontrollable surveillance state and social warfare pose to their freedom and prosperity. This provides a great opportunity to spread the ideas of freedom and grow the freedom movement.