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A comment on House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner or ban the app. Parent comment

Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by bjourne on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @04:13PM (#39696832)
No, you are muddling the issues. This is about speech and not about anything trade-related. Banning TikTok is not equivalent to putting import tariffs on cheap Chinese electronic bikes or solar panels. It's not about whatever profits ByteDance makes from TikTok.

It's 100% about controlling the narrative. "Young Americans are turning against Israel — and you can thank TikTok" https://forward.com/opinion/574346/freepalestine-tiktok-isra... Can't have that happening in the US. The right to brainwash kids is a right reserved to the American billionaire class, their purchased politicians and lobbyists. You can talk about "geopolitical risks", "security issues", and "reciprocity" all you want but it doesn't hide this fact.

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Re:House passes bill to force TikTok sale from Chinese owner... by dragonwriter on Wednesday March 13, 2024 @04:23PM (#39696971)
Its funny that the debate here is whether it is:

(1) trade protectionism that is about protecting the right to profit off of manipulation of American youth to favored actors, rather than disfavored foreign actors (whether disfavored because their country doesn’t allow American firms the same power in their countries, or for other reasons) or

(2) totally not trade related, but speech related, and about reserving the right to manipulate American youth to the exact same favored actors discussed in #1.

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