<
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/19/the-us-banning-tiktok-would-play-right-into-chinas-hands-and-destroy-decades-of-us-work-on-promoting-an-open-internet/>
"Apparently, the TikTok ban bill is back.
Speaker Mike Johnson plans to include TikTok divestiture legislation already
passed by the House in a fast-moving aid package for Ukraine and Israel that
the chamber is set to clear on Saturday. The Senate is expected to quickly
take up the measure, and President Joe Biden promised Wednesday to sign it
immediately.
If signed into law, the bill would deliver a significant blow to a
video-sharing app used by as many as 170 million Americans. Its enactment
would also mark a major setback to the company’s intense lobbying efforts,
especially by Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew, who made the rounds on
Capitol Hill last month in a bid to get the Senate to squelch the
legislation.
I’ve already explained why the TikTok ban is both unconstitutional and would
not do anything to fix the “concerns” that people have raised about it. We’ve
also discussed how those most vocally pushing for the TikTok ban appear to be
financially conflicted.
But, even more important than all that, is that a TikTok ban would be a
disaster for the open web. Yes, other countries have banned apps, but they tend
to be authoritarian countries that have never liked and never supported an open
web.
Banning an entire app in the US would be a massive attack on the very concept
of an open web. And that’s really unfortunate, given that the US used to be the
world’s most vocal supporter of the web being kept open and free."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
