The far-Left in America has long lived by the motto: If it feels good, do it.
And that’s fine unless what feels good to you hurts other people.
So now Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is proposing a ban that has young Democrats in full meltdown mode.
TikTok is one of the most popular and controversial social media platforms in existence.
It’s all the rage with today’s youth and “Social Justice Warriors.”
The social media platform surpassed two-billion app downloads in 2020.
That same year it was named one of the three fastest growing brands – along with Peacock and Zoom.
And it topped Google as the most popular website of 2021.
But TikTok is not all fun and games.
The short-form video-sharing platform is under more scrutiny than ever.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company, ByteDance.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) oversees the supposed, “independent” ByteDance.
TikTok’s parent company has been linked to surveillance and privacy concerns, along with allegations that it shares user data with the Chinese government.
The app is banned already in multiple countries, including India.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump started the process of banning TikTok unless it was sold to an American-run business.
ByteDance avoided the U.S. boycott by partnering with Oracle.
That same year, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed legislation banning TikTok from all federal government devices, after it was revealed in hearings in 2019 that China’s laws give them access to data that endangers Americans.
Key testimony from today’s hearing: ANY company that is complying w/ China’s laws giving Beijing access to data is endangering Americans (that means @Apple & @tiktok_us and maybe many more) pic.twitter.com/GOuup34JuD
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 5, 2019
Hawley and Scott cited cybersecurity concerns and possible spying by the Chinese government as the reasons for the bill.
Here’s TikTok acknowledging there are national security concerns with its platform! – but begging Congress not to ban it on government devices pic.twitter.com/PPpXCXHuQt
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 15, 2022
More than two years later, the federal employee TikTok ban finally passed when it was snuck in the $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus spending bill.
But MAGA Sen. Hawley isn’t stopping there.
Breitbart News is reporting Hawley is now pushing for a nationwide ban of the Left-wing’s favorite social media tool.
“TikTok is China’s backdoor into Americans’ lives,” Hawley said. “It threatens our children’s privacy as well as their mental health. Last month Congress banned it on all government devices. Now I will introduce legislation to ban it nationwide.”
Hawley’s fight against TikTok is gaining momentum in red and purple states.
Georgia, Montana, Alabama, and Iowa have already moved to ban TikTok on state employee devices.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has also recently come out strongly criticizing the CCP and any U.S. companies that do business with it – citing Apple, specifically.
In addition to pushing his state legislature to ban CCP-connected firms from buying up Florida real estate, DeSantis is pushing to pass a ban on TikTok on government, or government-connected devices.
As is South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, with her proposal barring the social platform’s use on the smartphones of all government agencies and employees in the state, as well as for all contractors doing business with state agencies.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
