TikToK. National Security. Freedom of Speech

Half of the US Population is in mourning. 170 Million Americans TikTok users woke up to this message “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. ” I am not a TikTok user. Figured I had enough addictions as is. This mention of President Trump on a foreign owned platform though, feels icky… It’s giving propaganda. Also, this is not completely true. Law did not ban TikTok per se. Law asked TikTok to divest from Chinese Parent company, did not divest, so was banned.

Internal political antics between Dems & Reps aside, the facts are these: Today, US has the largest world economy while China has the second largest BUT is projected to surpass US in 6 years. As such, China & US remain eternal rivals. In fact, American-owned Facebook is blocked in mainland China because it is considered politically sensitive. Therefore, A US ban of Chinese-owned TikTok for national security reasons should also make sense.

Quick timeline/recap. 2020: Then-President Trump spearheaded initial effort to ban tiktok citing national security concerns. His term ended with unfinished Business. 2024: The House (where I should have been, wink wink) introduced the bill, “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.” The bill, which passed in the House on a bipartisan 352-65 vote, was also upheld by Senate then signed into law by President Biden. THEN- law was challenged in court by TikTok users, citing freedom of speech issues. Courts upheld the Law ruling that national interests outweighed individuals’ freedom of speech. President Trump then got big mad & categorically opposed the ban (recall he started this whole ban convo) His brief to Supreme Court reads “President Trump is one of the most powerful, prolific, influential users of social media in History….President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform” Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY upheld law, finding that foreign owned Tiktok can indeed amass vast amounts of information from American users & Congress did not violate the First Amendment by taking action to address that threat.

The real question that comes to my mind is: Will Trump’s Ego, toxic party-polarization of Reps&Dems, along with our American nonchanlance contribute to our nation’s fall? Qui vivra, verra.