(NewsReady.com) – Most Conservatives would agree that TikTok, the Chinese social media app notorious for promoting dangerous trends and sending Americans’ personal data to the Beijing regime, is a menace to society. A new bill that would ban it from operating in the US has quickly built up wide bipartisan support. However, one GOP lawmaker is warning that the cure might be worse than the disease.
I agree!
“Beware of 'Orwellian' bill banning TikTok, warns Ohio Rep. @WarrenDavidson.” https://t.co/G1y77pM5EO
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 14, 2023
On March 7, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the RESTRICT Act into the US Senate. Warner argues that the bill, which doesn’t mention TikTok by name but is clearly aimed at it, would allow the government to shut down “technology-based threats” to Americans’ security and safety if they are connected to hostile foreign regimes. China is one of the named regimes.
While many Republican and Democrat senators — and the Biden Administration — have rallied behind the RESTRICT Act, there are dissenting voices — and, just like the Act’s supporters, its opponents cross party boundaries. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has called it “the Patriot Act for the Internet,” while radical Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims it’s being rushed through.
One Republican congressman has even compared the Act to the dystopian writings of George Orwell. Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) says the law would actually give the US government “the same kind of power the Chinese Communist Party has to spy on their citizens” under the guise of keeping us safe. He warned that the Act would let the government impose long prison sentences and massive fines for citizens who do things online it doesn’t approve of.
Davidson warned that the bill is being pushed by “really scary people” and would hand the government huge control over the internet. While banning TikTok would definitely be a positive move, it might not be worth this sort of price.
Copyright 2023, NewsReady.com
