by Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper:
Like many Generation X folks, I’ve complained long and hard about TikTok and the brainwashing effects on young people of 15-30-second intervals of entertaining social programming for hours at a time. I have also been concerned about the Chinese ownership of TikTok – is this just a giant psy-op?
So when I heard that Congress was finally getting ready to ban the app, I was curious. I do see inherent dangers with TikTok. I do believe it’s being used to both spy and brainwash our young people. But should it actually be banned? And what door does such a ban open to further restrictions on our freedom?
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Of course, I soon learned this was anything but good. Just like the Patriot Act has little to do with patriotism and the National Defense Authorization Act has more to do with indefinite detention without trials than national defense, the bill to ban TikTok is about much, much more.
It’s about silencing dissent…brutally. And it will affect every single one of us.
Please note that there’s more than one bill in the works. This article is specifically about the one that is most likely to pass, a worrisome, bipartisan effort.
It’s called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act or the RESTRICT Act. As a blogger, I look at this and find it terrifying. As an American, I look at this and want to weep for the freedoms that our government continues to crush.
It’s up to us to act on this information and produce a public outcry that cannot be ignored. If this passes, you won’t hear about the dangers of CBDCs, where we’re sending our money instead of helping our own citizens, or the shortcomings of the banking industry. You won’t be able to get alternative information from blogs and YouTube and Twitter. Instead, your information will come from the mainstream media, and they will be a mouthpiece for the agenda of whoever is in power.
You may dislike TikTok as much as I do, but it doesn’t warrant throwing the free speech baby out with the Chinese bathwater.
Let’s take a look at this bill.
What’s the RESTRICT Act all about?
Here’s the introduction. (Emphasis is mine.)
This bill requires federal actions to identify and mitigate foreign threats to information and communications technology (ICT) products and services. It also establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations under the bill.
Specifically, the Department of Commerce must identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, and mitigate transactions involving ICT products and services (1) in which any foreign adversary has any interest, and (2) that pose an undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the safety of U.S. persons.
Commerce may (1) designate any foreign government or regime as a foreign adversary upon a determination that the foreign government or regime is engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to U.S. national security or the security and safety of U.S. persons, and (2) remove such a designation. Commerce must notify Congress before making or removing a designation; these actions are subject to congressional disapproval.
The bill outlines (1) enforcement mechanisms, including actions by the Department of Justice; and (2) civil and criminal penalties for violations.
When you read this, it sounds like we’re ONLY preventing people outside the US from influencing people within the US, particularly for monetary gain. But pay attention because it’s not that clear-cut once you get into the text of the bill.
First, it names our “adversaries” as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.
But it gives the government the freedom to deem anyone a national security risk and go after them with everything they’ve got. The vagueness and broadness of the language in this bill should alarm everyone who believes in the right to privacy and free speech. From Section 3:
The Secretary, in consultation with the relevant executive department and agency heads, is authorized to and shall take action to identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate, including by negotiating, entering into, or imposing, and enforcing any mitigation measure to address any risk arising from any covered transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States that the Secretary determines…
Does that sound to you like it’ll just be limited to the sneaky Chinese running TikTok or those pesky Russians?
They can access anything on the unlucky victim’s computer: video games, banking information, chats, and anything their computer has connected to, like a Ring doorbell camera or a smart appliance.
Think about how adamant the government has been about silencing voices like ours on this website. Think about how they’ve gone after the Alternative Media for years. We’ve been downgraded, demonetized, deplatformed, and demonized in the eyes of the public. All for the thoughtcrime of questioning the government. All because we don’t swallow what we’re spoonfed. All because we exercise our constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech and a free press.
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