When I was younger, I was told that I could rely on our government because the United States is a country that believes in freedom, justice and liberty.
As I grew up, I realized that was bull.
Now, I don’t get the right to choose whether I want an abortion if I need one, and neither can a child who is a victim of rape or incest. Along with that, I know the government doesn’t care about its residents, least of all the children they so desperately want to save from being “murdered” in the womb.
I know this by the lack of action taken against gun violence and the thousands of “thoughts and prayers” that never seem to work.
The only faint light at the end of the tunnel has been at least we have been allowed to select our social media without interference.
As U.S. residents, we could choose what to waste our free time on.
With TikTok, anyone with a basic understanding of how to use a phone has been allowed access to the app where not only ridiculous trends start up, but where important news spreads quickly and efficiently.
Many people receive their daily news from TikTok. I have even heard about global news from the mouth of the anchorman fish from the show “Spongebob Squarepants.”
It was on TikTok where I found out the app could soon be banned.
Two bills were introduced, seemingly with the intent of banning TikTok on American devices.
One is the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, proposed in March, which gives the Secretary of Commerce the power “to review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries, and for other purposes,” according to the bill.
The second bill, introduced in February, is the Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act, which allows “the President to regulate various commercial transactions and to block foreign-owned property and assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction.” This basically means the president can ban or sanction TikTok or other foreign-owned properties if the administration determines U.S. user data is being shared with the Chinese government.
My issue with the bills is they seem to only target TikTok and not other social media that share American citizens’ data for profit, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Another ax I have to grind is with the Congress, which argues for the bills to be approved but has no understanding of basic technology.
On March 23, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had to testify about its consumer privacy and data security practices and its alleged relationship with the Chinese Communist Party to the House Energy and Commerce Committee after increasing scrutiny over the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, according to House Energy and Commerce Committee.
I saw some of the hearing, titled “TikTok: How Congress Can Safeguard American Data Privacy and Protect Children from Online Harms,” on the Washington Post’s YouTube because I use TikTok and wanted to stay informed, but the whole trial seemed like a hilarious “Saturday Night Live” sketch with the stupidest questions and even more ridiculous moments.
Richard Hudson (R-North Carolina), the man who asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew “if I have the TikTok app on my phone, and my phone is on my home Wi-Fi network, does TikTok have access to that
network?” is the representative for
North Carolina’s ninth congressional district.
That’s embarrassing.
Isn’t it sad that at his age, 51, he knows less than an iPad kid about technology?
I’ve seen children understand that if their Wi-Fi or cellular data isn’t on, apps don’t work. But this man, paid by the government, can’t put two and two together.
These people don’t know anything about technology, but they hold all the power to dictate what we do with it.
In this era, where artificial intelligence is becoming more common, where deepfakes are an issue and where VPNs are more accessible, how do you not update your knowledge so you can understand what you’re governing?
This congress is full of idiots who have no understanding of the technology they so badly want to regulate.
If they can’t figure out how Wi-Fi works, or why filters need to know where your eyes are to work or even how to remain bipartisan during a hearing, should we believe in their competence to dictate more pressing issues?
How are they able to govern at all when they’re clearly out of date and out of touch?
This country is a circus with clowns as ring leaders running the operation.
We, the citizens, are an audience held hostage with the hope that our leaders know how to take care of us.
As a hostage, I have never been more disappointed.
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