Tik Tok
The House of Representatives voted to force Tik Tok to sell itself. It is currently owned by Chinese company Byte Dance. Full Disclosure: I do not own a Tik Tok account, nor have I ever used the application. It is very popular in the United States, especially with young people. It is the primary source of news for those between 20 and 45.
Scared
The bill, as written, allows the President to dictate what is and is not a foreign adversary- controlled news source. That scares the crap out of me. What if he decides (let’s be honest, what if Jill decides) that the Wall Street Journal is a foreign adversary-controlled news source? Or the New York Times? What, they don’t have any foreign-adversary control! For years, the Wall Street Journal was majority-controlled by an Australian firm. What constitutes control? Is influence sufficient? Twitter/X has been partly owned by Saudi Arabian interests for years.
This could result in Venezuela being named a foreign adversary (it’s not far off), followed by Venezuelan oligarchs taking stakes in multiple US News sources. Mali and Niger can be defensibly named as foreign adversaries. What if an investment club from either purchases a few shares of a heavily traded news source? The President can then seize control. Or, more likely, establish a Ministry of Truth to monitor a lengthy list of news sources that can be called “suspicious.”
Deep State
Newsweek opined that the vote presaged a grab for power by the Deep State. Almost always an optimist, I disagree, but am afraid to wait for confirmation. Putting the power to control speech in the hands of the Deep State is certainly not a good idea. We know what the Deep State does with what little constitutional authority that it currently possesses.
This strikes me as a very dangerous move at a time when the country is adrift without strong leadership. We may disagree on many issues, but this optimist believes that a free press is the best tool to settle our disagreements.
It's even more diabolical. If an owner is anyone who is "controlled" by a foreign power. So Truth Social could conceivably be banned because they keep saying Trump is controlled by Russia. It isn't about TikTok being controlled by the Deep State. It is ultimately about the ability to close down any app deemed a "security threat," which is a broad term.
I'll Tik that free speech box right along with you.