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Rep. Massie: ‘So-called TikTok ban is a Trojan Horse’ that would give massive censorship power to US president

March 12, 2024 | | Print Article

While Congress rushes to ban TikTok because of the communist Chinese, Thomas Massie is calling the bill a “trojan horse” and Elon Musk says it’s all about censorship.

“The so-called TikTok ban is a trojan horse. The President will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps. The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S. (or offshore) INTERNET HOSTING SERVICE or App Store, not the ‘foreign adversary,'” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) warned on X.

Billionaire Elon Musk agrees with that conclusion and issued his own warning on X, “This law is not just about TikTok, it is about censorship and government control! If it were just about TikTok, it would only cite ‘foreign control’ as the issue, but it does not.”

Both Republicans and Democrats have been screaming for the TikTok app to be banned because it ostensibly allows the communist Chinese to spy on us and influence American politics and our children. Both are true but it appears that the ban is a smoke and mirrors distraction. Instead of going after the Chinese, it looks like another vehicle for censorship and control.

Still, there are conservatives who are convinced that TikTok is a national security threat.

“Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, sharply criticized TikTok during an annual worldwide threats hearing Monday with the top leaders of the U.S. intelligence community. In a series of questions to Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray, Rubio attempted to characterize the company as beholden to the Chinese Communist Party and legally obligated to comply with government requests to share data on its users or alter its algorithms in ways that could be harmful to the U.S., such as pushing content to American audiences that could promote internal division and violence,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Former President Trump pushed for the ban during his time in office. Congress blocked the bill but it has been resurrected under President Biden and is quickly moving through Congress. Trump is now against the ban, asserting that it would give more power to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, who he considers an “enemy of the people.”

“The House will vote this week on the bipartisan Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, under a special rule that waives discussion of the bill and requires a two-thirds majority to pass, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) weekly schedule released Monday,” Fox 59 reported.

“We must ensure the Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American users and our government through data collection and propaganda,” Scalise proclaimed.

The bill is bipartisan and is supported by most in Congress.

“It advanced with rare unanimous support Thursday out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, just two days after it was introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the top lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party,” Fox 59 wrote.

“The bill would force ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest the app or face a ban within the U.S. The measure also lays out a process for banning other apps that are found to be controlled by U.S. adversaries,” the media outlet added.

Massie said on X Friday that he would not vote for the bill because it gives too much power to Biden.

“Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps you can run on your phone, based on whether he deems them to be owned by a foreign adversary. I’ve never used TikTok, but I’m not voting to give the President new powers to ban it and other apps,” he declared.

House leadership is scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday.

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