The Charlie Kirk Show - It’s Time to Ban TikTok
Aired: 2020-07-08
Duration: 37:30


=== Why We Must Ban TikTok (10:36) ===

[00:00:00]  Thank you for listening to this Podcast 1 production.
[00:00:02]  Now available on Apple Podcasts, Podcast 1, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
[00:00:08]  Hey, everybody.
[00:00:08]  Today on the Charlie Kirk show, I make the case that we should ban TikTok.
[00:00:12]  And I also ask the question, is it good when 12 and 13 year olds are using their phones six or seven hours a day?
[00:00:18]  It's time for a cultural conversation about it.
[00:00:20]  I want to thank those of you that support us at CharlieKirk.com slash support.
[00:00:23]  It allows us to speak freely about topics like this away from the threat of leftist attacks and campaigns that try to take this podcast down.
[00:00:32]  So thank you for going to charliekirk.com slash support.
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[00:00:50]  Your thoughts, what you're seeing, what you're frustrated about.
[00:00:52]  It's freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:00:54]  I love hearing from you.
[00:00:56]  Big episode in store.
[00:00:57]  Buckle up, everybody.
[00:00:58]  Here we go.
[00:00:59]  Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
[00:01:01]  Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campuses.
[00:01:03]  I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
[00:01:07]  Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
[00:01:10]  I want to thank Charlie.
[00:01:11]  He's an incredible guy.
[00:01:12]  His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created.
[00:01:19]  Turning point USA.
[00:01:20]  We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
[00:01:29]  That's why we are here.
[00:01:32]  What if I told you that America's greatest enemy has infiltrated the teenagers of America's most personal devices?
[00:01:43]  What if I told you America's greatest enemy was monitoring, cataloging, and borderline spying on the data and the behavior of America's youth?
[00:01:58]  What's happening?
[00:01:59]  You might have heard some news about this in the last couple months, and you might have heard some 14 or 15-year-old act very excited about getting a lot of views or a lot of shares on an app called TikTok.
[00:02:13]  Now, I first became aware of TikTok two and a half years ago, even before Benny Johnson was with us officially at Turning Point USA.
[00:02:21]  Benny and I were enjoying a meal in Washington, D.C., and he said, Charlie, I got to tell you about the next big app.
[00:02:28]  It's called TikTok.
[00:02:29]  I downloaded it.
[00:02:31]  I really did not enjoy the app.
[00:02:34]  Let's just put it this way.
[00:02:35]  I don't like the aesthetic of it.
[00:02:36]  I don't like the feel.
[00:02:39]  Some people really like it.
[00:02:40]  I'm not one of those people.
[00:02:42]  It's a lot of lip-syncing videos.
[00:02:44]  It's a lot of off-the-wall humor videos.
[00:02:49]  Some of it's okay when it gets reshared on other platforms, but most of it I just think is total garbage.
[00:02:55]  And you will not find a high school student in America that does not have TikTok on their phone.
[00:03:01]  So here's just an easy description of what TikTok is, because some of our listeners here, they have no idea.
[00:03:05]  I know the younger listeners are like, okay, yeah, Charlie, we get it.
[00:03:07]  We know what TikTok is.
[00:03:09]  But TikTok is basically the go-to destination now for short-form mobile videos.
[00:03:15]  The previous destination for those types of videos used to be an application called Vine, V-I-N-E, until they closed shop.
[00:03:24]  They say their mission is to capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments directly from the mobile phone.
[00:03:32]  TikTok enables everyone to be a creator and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos.
[00:03:40]  Their biggest competitors are, of course, Snapchat or Snap and Instagram, which of course is owned by Facebook.
[00:03:48]  Now, mind you, TikTok is owned, operated, funded, and probably supported internally through military operations by the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:04:00]  It's not just that it's a Chinese company.
[00:04:02]  We've dealt with those before.
[00:04:04]  Lenovo is a Chinese company.
[00:04:06]  Huawei is a Chinese company.
[00:04:09]  ZTE is a Chinese company.
[00:04:11]  We'll go through some of those as well.
[00:04:13]  But it's even more than that.
[00:04:15]  TikTok, I think, is even more dangerous. than those companies because TikTok, according to recent numbers that were published by the company itself, has been downloaded by almost half of the U.S. population, 165 million downloads.
[00:04:33]  That's right, 165 million downloads in America.
[00:04:37]  An extraordinary amount.
[00:04:40]  Just to put that in perspective, there's only 340 million people in America.
[00:04:46]  And a lot of those 165 million downloads are people under the age of 30.
[00:04:51]  So it's fair to say, just looking at basic numbers, an overwhelming majority, probably 70 to 80% of teenagers in America have either downloaded or used TikTok on a regular basis.
[00:05:04]  And again, most all of the users are Generation Z. Just so you understand the 165 million downloads, that's the most of any app ever in a single quarter.
[00:05:16]  The application has been downloaded over 2 billion times worldwide.
[00:05:19]  The app has far surpassed the popularity of Facebook amongst Generation Z users.
[00:05:26]  So a lot of you ask questions.
[00:05:27]  Well, Charlie, why don't we create a competitor to Instagram or Snapchat?
[00:05:31]  Well, there is a competitor.
[00:05:32]  And while we've been sitting waiting for the left to destroy our country, our other enemy internationally, the Chinese Communist Party, they've been funding and supporting a social media application to spy on our nation's youth.
[00:05:49]  So I can just tell you anecdotally, I had TikTok on my phone about nine months ago.
[00:05:54]  And up until the moment I deleted it from my phone, my phone would be going haywire.
[00:05:59]  In fact, one of the producers here on the Charlie Kirk show said he would be getting calls from China at like 3 a.m.
[00:06:07]  His phone was acting funny until he deleted TikTok and got a new phone.
[00:06:12]  It didn't stop.
[00:06:14]  There is evidence to show this.
[00:06:15]  And in fact, in a response to the new military intelligence that has been shared amongst U.S. allies and the United States, India is actually ahead of the United States.
[00:06:26]  India, with over a billion people, they have now moved to ban almost 60 Chinese apps, including TikTok.
[00:06:33]  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on Fox News with Laura Ingrid.
[00:06:38]  And he says we're taking this very seriously and looking at it.
[00:06:41]  He also talked about ZTE and Huawei, play tape.
[00:06:44]  Finally, Mr. Secretary, the huge Chinese app, TikTok, has about 30 million users in the United States, but it's been banned now by India.
[00:06:52]  And Australia is considering the same action, saying that TikTok was full of mass surveillance and propaganda, and also that the app had the ability to feed information straight to Beijing.
[00:07:03]  So kind of obvious question.
[00:07:05]  If all that's the case, shouldn't we be considering right now, tonight, a ban on Chinese social media apps, especially TikTok?
[00:07:14]  Laura, your viewers should know we're taking this very seriously.
[00:07:17]  We're certainly looking at it.
[00:07:18]  We've worked on this very issue for a long time, whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure.
[00:07:24]  We've gone all over the world and we're making real progress getting that out.
[00:07:28]  We declared ZTE a danger to American national security.
[00:07:32]  We've done all of these things with respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones.
[00:07:36]  I can assure you, the United States will get this one right too.
[00:07:38]  Laura, I don't want to get out and I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at.
[00:07:42]  Would you recommend that people download that up on their phones tonight, tomorrow, anytime currently?
[00:07:48]  Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:07:52]  Now, Americans should be very careful about using TikTok and having their private information fall in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:08:00]  And Pompeo is correct about this.
[00:08:03]  Thank you, Mike Pompeo.
[00:08:04]  I'm going to continue to publicly and privately applaud you for trying to ban TikTok.
[00:08:10]  Do it now.
[00:08:11]  Because here's how it works.
[00:08:12]  You might say, well, Charlie, banning sounds so anti-conservative.
[00:08:16]  I'm a patriot.
[00:08:18]  I love my country.
[00:08:19]  I couldn't care less about trying to pander for the liberty of the Chinese Communist Party to come into our country and data mine and harvest and spy on our country.
[00:08:31]  There's nothing conservative about allowing our greatest enemy into the pockets of America's youth.
[00:08:39]  In order to create a TikTok profile, they ask for personal information.
[00:08:45]  And a lot of 13, 14, and 15-year-olds willingly give the CCP very intimate details.
[00:08:52]  So now the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, knows what your 15-year-old likes in music, food, where you're vacationing, what you're doing.
[00:09:03]  And they might even be able to access through the back end of your phone that you're probably paying for if you're a parent listening to this and your 15-year-old is using to be able to listen to private conversations, access the microphone within the phone.
[00:09:16]  We don't know how deep TikTok and the malware that is within the application goes into the device that you're using.
[00:09:24]  Some of this is speculation.
[00:09:26]  Some of this is now hard evidence.
[00:09:32]  Look, I want to talk to you about internet freedom.
[00:09:34]  Social media companies get to decide what content is suitable for the sensitive snowflakes among us and censor whatever they don't like.
[00:09:41]  Shouldn't you be the one to decide what you want to read or watch, not them?
[00:09:46]  There's one thing you can control, their access to your data.
[00:09:49]  And that's why I use ExpressVPN.
[00:09:52]  You see, the problem with big tech companies is that they not only do they censor what you read, they track what you do online.
[00:09:58]  They track what you're searching for, the videos you watch, and everything that you click.
[00:10:02]  They use this data to serve you ads and can match your activity to your offline identity using your device's unique IP address.
[00:10:09]  That's exactly why I use ExpressVPN.
[00:10:12]  I use ExpressVPN to protect myself from the Orwellian tech companies that want to attack your computer or your device.
[00:10:19]  These tech companies can't see my IP address at all.
[00:10:22]  Sorry, can't see it.
[00:10:23]  My identity is masked and anonymized by a secure VPN server.
[00:10:28]  Plus, ExpressVPN also encrypts 100% of your data to protect you from hackers and the bad guys on the internet.
[00:10:35]  Does that sound complicated?

=== Protecting Kids From Spying Apps (10:37) ===

[00:10:36]  It's not, I promise.
[00:10:37]  ExpressVPN software takes just one minute to set up on your computer or phone.
[00:10:41]  You tap one button and you're protected.
[00:10:44]  So why give these tech companies a free license to know everything about you?
[00:10:47]  And then you turn around and sell off all your information.
[00:10:49]  It's time to take back your privacy at expressvpn.com slash Charlie by visiting my special link.
[00:10:55]  You get three months of ExpressVPN service for free.
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[00:10:59]  It's expressvpn.com slash Charlie.
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[00:11:11]  Now, TikTok is, of course, owned by the Beijing-based Byte Dance.
[00:11:18]  The company denies that it hands over the data to the Chinese Communist Party and says it wouldn't even do so if asked.
[00:11:24]  Well, first of all, if we know anything about the Chinese Communist Party, lying is a feature of the CCP.
[00:11:31]  The best liars in the world are the Chinese Communist Party, not the Chinese people.
[00:11:35]  There's a distinction between the political movement of the Chinese Communist Party that dominates the political system of China and the 95 to 98% of the people in China that are being held hostage by the Marxist Chinese world-dominating, let's say, aspirational world-dominating communists of the CCP.
[00:11:57]  By the way, the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, they don't ask before they take data.
[00:12:02]  They just take data.
[00:12:03]  The company is now run by an American, Kevin Mayer, former executive at Disney.
[00:12:09]  Mayer was instrumental in building out Disney's streaming services.
[00:12:12]  So now he's the CEO of TikTok.
[00:12:14]  I sure hope the money that you're getting is worth the borderline treason that you are being involved with.
[00:12:20]  I sure hope, Kevin, that it's worth the extra vacation home in the islands for you to be able to disenfranchise our country to America's greatest enemy.
[00:12:28]  Before I go further, it is incredible to me how America's ruling class is willing to sell out our country for a fat paycheck.
[00:12:37]  It is amazing to me about how the elites of America are more than happy to just put America last so that they can go get an extra vacation home.
[00:12:49]  This was not the phenomenon in the early 1900s.
[00:12:51]  The ruling class of America in 1910 and 1920, despite all of the alleged monopolization that they engaged in, they loved their country.
[00:13:02]  They really did.
[00:13:04]  Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan Chase, Andrew Carnegie, they loved America.
[00:13:09]  Our ruling class, they hate America.
[00:13:12]  Who could work for a company like TikTok?
[00:13:15]  Who could do something like that?
[00:13:16]  I'm not blaming the employees.
[00:13:17]  I'm sure there's plenty of good, useful, educated, I don't want to say idiots because that's too mean.
[00:13:27]  But to use the Yuri Bezmanov example, which we did a previous episode on, they are being useful idiots.
[00:13:32]  I'm not saying they're all idiots if you work at TikTok, but you understand what I'm saying.
[00:13:36]  But for Kevin Mayer, the CEO of this company who used to work at Disney, he's perfectly fine with selling out our country so that your children can be hypnotized by a Chinese military asset.
[00:13:49]  Now, I want to dive into more what Pompeo said, but you have to understand, TikTok kicked off live action from their platform run by Lila Rose, tremendous spokeswoman for the pro-life movement.
[00:14:03]  They put forward and they propagandize the platform with far left-wing anti-American voices.
[00:14:09]  So outside of the fact that the Chinese government is using this application to spy on our children and data mine our children, our children are becoming assets of the CCP so they can know what their parents are doing.
[00:14:21]  We don't need spies anymore.
[00:14:23]  We just need TikTok.
[00:14:24]  Despite all that, it's also really bad for the country and the fabric of our country because the content that is being pushed on TikTok is Marxist, leftist garbage, and conservative voices are routinely kicked off TikTok, routinely.
[00:14:38]  In response to Pompeo's remarks, a TikTok spokesperson said this, TikTok is led by an American CEO with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the United States.
[00:14:49]  We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users.
[00:14:54]  We never have provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if we were asked, end quote.
[00:15:00]  So to try to win goodwill in the Western community, TikTok has said that they're going to exit Hong Kong because of the introduction of a new security law by the Chinese communist government.
[00:15:10]  On May 21st, China announced it was preparing to pass a controversial law, which is expected to criminalize access, sedition, secession, and subversion.
[00:15:18]  This is directly in response to the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
[00:15:22]  Other industry mainstays, including Google, Twitter, Facebook, and its messaging platform, WhatsApp, have said they are halting reviews of government requests for user data in Hong Kong.
[00:15:32]  Now, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, again, blasted the national security law.
[00:15:36]  He said it's totally Orwellian.
[00:15:38]  He's right.
[00:15:39]  He said this.
[00:15:39]  Until now, Hong Kong flourished because it's allowed free thinking and free speech under an independent rule of law, no more.
[00:15:46]  The United States condemns Beijing's repeated failure to live up to its obligations under the Sinno-British Joint Declaration and these latest assaults on the rights of the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.
[00:15:55]  End quote.
[00:15:56]  So, look, while they're talking a big game, it still remains true that by law, TikTok has to share its info with the CCP by Chinese law.
[00:16:07]  So, let's consider TikTok's incredible influence here in America.
[00:16:12]  I personally get hundreds of emails from students asking if it's safe to use TikTok all the time.
[00:16:18]  Parents are saying, Well, Charlie, my kid's on TikTok all the time.
[00:16:21]  I got to push back on this.
[00:16:22]  These parents say, Charlie, what do I do?
[00:16:24]  My kids using TikTok.
[00:16:25]  Have them stop using it.
[00:16:27]  I mean, God bless my parents.
[00:16:30]  I actually grew up in a time of really tough parenting.
[00:16:32]  I don't know what's going on today where people think that the kids all of a sudden run the household.
[00:16:37]  Until your kid is 18, unless they're paying for the phone, you delete the app from them, you take the phone from them.
[00:16:42]  You understand human beings can operate without phones, or at least a smartphone.
[00:16:46]  People say, Well, my kid needs a phone.
[00:16:48]  Well, then go buy them that huge phone on television that they sell to elderly individuals.
[00:16:53]  What is it called?
[00:16:53]  The June bug or something?
[00:16:55]  We'll get the name of it.
[00:16:56]  Where the buttons are like the size of Saturn, okay?
[00:16:58]  Or get them a flip phone.
[00:16:59]  I grew up with a flip phone.
[00:17:01]  I was just fine, okay?
[00:17:02]  This idea that your kid needs a smartphone and your kid needs a TikTok app.
[00:17:08]  I don't understand.
[00:17:09]  I don't want to accuse any parents listening to this and make you feel bad, but your children are not your friends, okay?
[00:17:15]  Your children are your children.
[00:17:17]  You're trying to pour into them to make, to develop them into human beings that can live independently in society, and you know what is best for them.
[00:17:25]  And what is best for them is not having TikTok on their phone.
[00:17:28]  First of all, spend some time on TikTok.
[00:17:31]  It's just mountains of steaming garbage, basically.
[00:17:34]  The content.
[00:17:34]  You have 15 and 16-year-olds that are engaging, let's just say, in leftist behavior.
[00:17:40]  It's called jitterbug.
[00:17:40]  The phone's called jitterbug, by the way.
[00:17:42]  And I'm half joking, okay?
[00:17:44]  Jitterbug.
[00:17:45]  If you look, just right now, look up on the internet, the phone jitterbug, and you should get a good laugh out of it, okay?
[00:17:51]  What I'm saying is this.
[00:17:53]  If you even spend some time on TikTok and your kid is using it, it should appall you.
[00:17:57]  If you love America, if you happen to be a Christian, it should really appall you.
[00:18:02]  TikTok is a propaganda arm of the CCP.
[00:18:05]  Your child can function just fine in a social setting in high school without having to use an application that is fostered, supported, funded, and monitored by the military of the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:18:18]  Secretary Pompeo said this.
[00:18:20]  Only use TikTok if you want your personal information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:18:25]  I put a lot of the blame here, by the way, on American parents.
[00:18:28]  Why they let their kids use this application at all in the first place is beyond me.
[00:18:32]  I mean, I meet 12-year-olds sometimes and they have smartphones.
[00:18:35]  What are you doing?
[00:18:36]  I didn't get my first phone, which was like a really weird, awful flip phone, until I was 17 and I had to earn it.
[00:18:42]  I had to work all summer to get it.
[00:18:44]  Now you have 12-year-olds that have smartphones.
[00:18:47]  It's not good for the country.
[00:18:48]  It just isn't.
[00:18:50]  Just overly indulging America's youth in technology is not good for anyone.
[00:18:55]  I go out to eat sometimes and I see entire families and the parents just hand iPads and phones to their kids and they don't talk at all throughout the entire meal.
[00:19:04]  And look, I'm victim number one of using my phone all the time, mostly for work and for productive means, of course, to try to save the country.
[00:19:13]  But mind you, when I was 11, 12, 13, 14 years old, when you went out to dinner, you looked your parents in the eye and you discussed ideas, you told them about your day.
[00:19:22]  Now I feel as if there's just this digital world that most of our kids live in.
[00:19:27]  And parents almost use technology as an excuse to keep them quiet.
[00:19:31]  I'm not saying all parents.
[00:19:32]  I don't want to accuse parents.
[00:19:33]  Listen to this.
[00:19:33]  There's a lot of parents struggling with a lot of different things, so I don't want to paint too broad of a brush.
[00:19:38]  I'm just making a general, I think, important societal observation here.
[00:19:43]  Because if we just keep on allowing our kids to overly indulge in this form of Orwellian technology, we are not going to have a country.
[00:19:50]  And by the way, this is coming from a 26-year-old, okay?
[00:19:54]  I'm 26 years old telling you that what's happening right now with the amount of social media usage and technology that is overly, let's say, proselytized among America's youth is damaging.
[00:20:09]  I'm in support of, of course, using tools for the betterment of freedom and the gospel and the kingdom and of our country.
[00:20:16]  However, I think that now that we have eight-year-olds and 12-year-olds that are getting smartphones and it's as if it's connected to them at the hip, I think it stunts their development.
[00:20:26]  I'm not going to say all of a sudden they're going to stop growing.
[00:20:27]  That's not what I mean.
[00:20:28]  I'm not their physical development.
[00:20:30]  I don't think it creates complete people.
[00:20:32]  I don't.
[00:20:33]  We have 13-year-olds that are addicted to Chinese applications.
[00:20:38]  We have children committing suicide because they're not getting enough social media likes on TikTok.
[00:20:45]  If you're a parent out there, it's okay to take all your children's devices away and buy them a flip phone.
[00:20:51]  They're going to be incredibly upset on the front end, and they might just have a happy childhood after that.
[00:20:58]  I get on my hands and knees and thank God, I really do, quite often, that I grew up in an America where I didn't have this nonsense around me.
[00:21:06]  I'm 26 years old.
[00:21:08]  10 years ago, none of this nonsense existed.

=== National Security And Data Risks (09:29) ===

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[00:22:30]  So just take it for whatever it's worth.
[00:22:32]  I'm a 26-year-old telling you that the over indulgence in technology is helping contribute to the downfall of America.
[00:22:40]  So this entire issue of the Chinese Communist Party and its infiltration into the pockets of America's youth, and when I say the pockets, I mean that's where you keep your smartphone, has really been spearheaded by Senator Josh Hawley for months, and it's gaining serious momentum.
[00:22:56]  Senator Hawley, he introduced a bill, also taking aim at Apple, by the way, but especially TikTok, the National Security and Personal Data Protection Act.
[00:23:04]  Now, this bill would prohibit American companies from storing user data or encryption keys in China.
[00:23:11]  As I mentioned before, Chinese law requires cloud services offered to its citizens to essentially be operated by Chinese companies and that Chinese customers' data be stored in the country.
[00:23:24]  So here's what it would do.
[00:23:25]  It force Apple to choose between discontinuing iCloud service there or adjusting its operations.
[00:23:30]  I'm in complete support of this.
[00:23:32]  Apple chose to partner with a state-owned company.
[00:23:35]  I'm going to mispronounce this, but it's Gaizhu Cloud Big Data Industry Company, LTD Limited, for its data center for Chinese users.
[00:23:45]  But it has said that Apple alone controls the encryption keys.
[00:23:49]  However, Senator Holly said this: quote: Chinese law allows the Communist Party to seize data from American companies operating in China whenever it wants and for whatever reason it wants.
[00:23:58]  Let's just listen to some tape of Senator Holly at a Senate hearing talking about this issue: play tape.
[00:24:05]  TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2019, more than any other app in the country.
[00:24:12]  More teenagers are on TikTok now than use Facebook.
[00:24:16]  It counts millions and millions and millions of Americans as users.
[00:24:21]  But it is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members in leadership.
[00:24:27]  And it is required under Chinese law to share user data with Beijing.
[00:24:32]  And TikTok has admitted that it has sent user data to China.
[00:24:37]  To put it bluntly, this is a major security risk for the American people.
[00:24:42]  And what kind of data is TikTok collecting as it runs on our phones?
[00:24:46]  A heck of a lot more than you would think.
[00:24:48]  Images, of course, that users post.
[00:24:52]  But TikTok also collects information about the messages that you send, about the apps that you use, the other apps on your phone.
[00:25:01]  It collects the sites that you visit.
[00:25:03]  It collects your search history.
[00:25:04]  It collects your keystrokes.
[00:25:06]  It collects your location data.
[00:25:08]  It stores all of this and maybe lots, lots more.
[00:25:12]  And I can tell you, as the father of two small children who already have many of their friends on social media, even though they're quite young, I find this absolutely horrifying.
[00:25:22]  And we know that it's a national security risk.
[00:25:24]  Since our last hearing on this subject, the Pentagon, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the TSA have all banned their employees and service members from using TikTok on government devices.
[00:25:39]  In fact, the Pentagon even went so far as to say that employees should have their children uninstall TikTok from their personal devices.
[00:25:48]  So the bill he's proposing would also rightly change merger rules when Chinese companies try to buy United States firms that possess large amounts of data, requiring the pre-approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
[00:26:01]  So this bill has some great things in it, but it does not go far enough.
[00:26:05]  It doesn't.
[00:26:06]  So again, I want to applaud Senator Hawley.
[00:26:08]  He's a hero on this issue, and he's been very courageous lately.
[00:26:11]  I like this, Josh Hawley.
[00:26:12]  And by the way, I did not expect this out of Josh Hawley.
[00:26:15]  I thought he would be more establishment.
[00:26:17]  That's kind of the way that he was presented by in certain political circles that he would be a.
[00:26:23]  He did a fundraiser with George W. Bush, by the way, just for example, that I attended in Dallas, Texas.
[00:26:29]  I never forget, I went to the fundraiser for George W. Bush at Josh Hawley.
[00:26:32]  I said, okay, it's better than having a Democrat, but I don't think he's going to fight.
[00:26:35]  And all of a sudden, Senator Josh Hawley starts talking about going after big tech and going after the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:26:41]  And I'm giving a standing ovation to Senator Josh Hawley.
[00:26:45]  So he's been an incredibly refreshing surprise from Missouri.
[00:26:48]  Good job, Josh Hawley.
[00:26:49]  Now, we have to realize that we can negotiate till we're blue in the face with the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:26:53]  They will ultimately do whatever they want, regardless of any agreements that they sign.
[00:26:58]  The Chinese Communist Party will lie to us.
[00:27:01]  They do it professionally and they do it very well.
[00:27:04]  They are expert deceivers.
[00:27:06]  It is a feature of the Chinese Communist Party system.
[00:27:10]  The United States was right to declare ZTE a danger to American national security.
[00:27:15]  The United States has also warned the world about the dangers of Huawei technology in a nation's 5G infrastructure.
[00:27:22]  And the United Kingdom even looks like they're going to reverse course as well.
[00:27:25]  This is not a debate about free markets, by the way.
[00:27:28]  This is about national security.
[00:27:30]  A company as large and as successful as TikTok is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party by law.
[00:27:37]  Anyone who says they're not controlled by the CCP is either paid to say that or they're incredibly misinformed.
[00:27:44]  Anyone who believes that TikTok can operate independently hasn't learned anything in the last couple months from the Chinese coronavirus.
[00:27:52]  They've learned nothing.
[00:27:53]  The Chinese coronavirus shows us that the Chinese Communist Party will do whatever it takes to protect their reputation and to lie to the rest of the world.
[00:28:00]  Some people say that they created the virus.
[00:28:03]  Some people say that they just released the virus.
[00:28:04]  Some people say they didn't do enough to cover up the virus.
[00:28:07]  We will know the truth at some point.
[00:28:09]  But here's what we do know.
[00:28:10]  The Chinese Communist Party lied about it.
[00:28:13]  The Chinese Communist Party has lied about dumping products into our country, dumping steel, dumping solar panels.
[00:28:20]  It wasn't until President Trump until we actually started to reverse course on a lot of these troubling trends, building Confucius Institutes all across the country.
[00:28:30]  Now, mind you, Apple, just like TikTok, could be used for Chinese espionage in our country.
[00:28:36]  We've seen that it's a real concern with drones that were made by the Chinese company DJI.
[00:28:43]  In fact, Congressman Matt Gates was on Tucker Carlson talking about this.
[00:28:47]  I want to play a short tape of Congressman Matt Gates talking about this play tape.
[00:28:51]  Why are these drones dangerous?
[00:28:55]  China is massively expanding a Trojan horse spying operation in our country, and your local police department may be unknowingly helping them.
[00:29:04]  The United States Army, the Department of Interior, they banned their use of these DJI drones, citing vulnerability and potential value for other countries.
[00:29:14]  The Department of Homeland Security wrote a scathing report that said that China specifically goes after local law enforcement.
[00:29:21]  They did so even before the coronavirus so that they can get key information, transmit it to the Chinese government.
[00:29:27]  And then our own Department of Homeland Security wrote that this is precisely the type of information we're worried that China might sell to terrorists.
[00:29:35]  So even before the coronavirus, Tucker, you had this company reducing their prices for drones by 70%.
[00:29:43]  They drove U.S. manufacturers out of the market.
[00:29:45]  And since coronavirus, DJI is openly bragging that they have just donated these Trojan horse gifts to over 22 states, to over 40 municipalities.
[00:29:57]  And when I talk to these municipalities in my own investigation, they say, well, it's no big deal.
[00:30:02]  We just fly them around the parks and tell people to disperse or we just make sure folks are social distancing.
[00:30:07]  But the information that's being collected makes our nation more vulnerable.
[00:30:11]  And I believe the Attorney General, under the existing authorities he has under the cybersecurity laws, should immediately ground the entire fleet of DJI drones used by U.S. law enforcement.
[00:30:23]  We should not be spied on by our own government in giving the information then to a foreign government that's hostile.
[00:30:29]  So Chinese espionage, spying, and praying in our country is nothing new.
[00:30:35]  This is about the well-being of our children.
[00:30:38]  It's about our country.
[00:30:40]  And by the way, they could be blackmailed.

=== Seven Actions For Businesses Now (02:19) ===

[00:30:42]  If they do something regrettable on social media, which God knows every human being that has ever interacted on this planet has done something regrettable.
[00:30:50]  But do you know what makes this generation different and even parts of my generation different with what they did on social media?
[00:30:56]  It's cataloged and it lives forever.
[00:30:59]  Every person growing up makes mistakes.
[00:31:01]  The problem is these mistakes are now permanent mistakes on social media.
[00:31:08]  What if your kid says something regrettable on social media, on TikTok?
[00:31:12]  What's to say the Chinese Communist Party won't leak it to a reporter here in America to try to go up against your child if that person ever comes to prominence and anything that dares speak against the Chinese Communist Party?
[00:31:22]  You think I'm getting into something that won't happen?
[00:31:25]  You do not know the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:31:29]  America's ready to get back to work, but to win in the new economy, you need to take advantage to succeed.
[00:31:35]  Smart companies run on NetSuite by Oracle, the world's number one cloud business system.
[00:31:39]  With NetSuite, you'll have visibility and control of your financials, HR, inventory, e-commerce, and more.
[00:31:45]  Everything you need all in one place.
[00:31:47]  Whether you're doing a million or hundreds of millions in sales, NetSuite lets you manage every penny with precision.
[00:31:53]  You'll have the ability to compete with anyone, work from anywhere, and run your whole company right from your phone.
[00:31:58]  Join over 20,000 companies.
[00:31:59]  Who trusts NetSuite to make it happen?
[00:32:01]  NetSuite surveyed hundreds of business leaders and assembled a playbook of the top strategies they're using as America reopens for business.
[00:32:07]  Receive your free guide.
[00:32:08]  It's seven actions businesses need to take now and schedule your free product tour at netsuite.com/slash kirk.
[00:32:14]  Get your free guide and schedule your free product tour right now at netsuite.com/slash kirk, netsuite.com/slash kirk.
[00:32:25]  Your children can even fall victim to an even more soft Chinese power influence campaign.
[00:32:30]  The Confucius Institutes all across the country, we've talked about this before.
[00:32:34]  Confucius Institutes all across the country are built and funded by the Chinese Communist Party.
[00:32:42]  They are funded with the sole intention to be able to infiltrate American universities.
[00:32:47]  We should shut down every single Confucius Institute across the country.
[00:32:52]  Here's the bottom line: when a child is in danger, it is the adult's responsibility to protect that child.
[00:32:58]  This app puts the minds of America's children at risk.

=== The Case Against Social Media (04:28) ===

[00:33:01]  We should act quickly and ban this app absolutely and completely.
[00:33:06]  This is a serious threat to our country.
[00:33:08]  If you have TikTok on your phone, delete it right now.
[00:33:10]  Advocate for the blockage of this app.
[00:33:12]  It does not benefit our country at all.
[00:33:14]  If you think that we have a better, freer, more prosperous country because of TikTok, please email me, freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:33:21]  I want to hear why you think TikTok would be advantageous to our country.
[00:33:26]  There is no argument to it.
[00:33:27]  It doesn't exist.
[00:33:30]  Banning it would send a clear message to the CCP.
[00:33:32]  And by the way, if India can ban TikTok, we can ban TikTok.
[00:33:37]  The president can do it through an executive order.
[00:33:39]  I've already consulted with people at the State Department, talked to people at the State Department.
[00:33:42]  They say one executive order, president can ban TikTok.
[00:33:45]  And it would be an incredible blessing to our country.
[00:33:50]  Not to mention, it would actually be not that he should do it because of this, but just talking pure politics.
[00:33:55]  It would get rid of one of the most anti-Trump platforms in the entire country.
[00:34:00]  It just would.
[00:34:01]  It would get rid of one of the most anti-Trump social media apps that exist on the entire planet.
[00:34:06]  Not that that's the reason to do it.
[00:34:07]  I'm not advocating for it.
[00:34:08]  It's just the truth of the matter: that this application just happens to hate Donald Trump and it promotes voices that hate Donald Trump.
[00:34:16]  To close the episode, I want to just talk about what I said earlier even deeper.
[00:34:20]  And for those of you, I encourage you to go to get involved at TurningPointUSA, tpusa.com, tpusa.com.
[00:34:25]  Email me, freedom at charliekirk.com, freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:34:28]  And if you guys want a signed copy of the MAGA doctrine, subscribe, five-star review, screenshot it, email us, freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:34:35]  You might be one of the 20 people that we select to win a copy.
[00:34:39]  But to end the episode, I want to say this: Steve Hilton wrote a book called More Human.
[00:34:44]  I'm going to have him on our podcast to talk about this.
[00:34:47]  But the more that I study about this technology, the more I use technology, the more social media followers I have, I'm not saying it's useless.
[00:34:54]  I'm not saying it's baseless.
[00:34:56]  I am saying, though, that it can be incredibly empty and shallow if we think this is good for our country.
[00:35:04]  Steve Hilton talked about this in his book, More Human, and Steve Hilton, who hosts Next Revolution on Fox News every Sunday night.
[00:35:11]  I'm blessed to be able to go on that show quite often.
[00:35:13]  He's a terrific American.
[00:35:15]  In fact, as an immigrant from the United Kingdom, he's more American than most Americans are.
[00:35:18]  Seriously, he advocates for phenomenal ideas.
[00:35:22]  He really does.
[00:35:22]  He's a great guy.
[00:35:24]  He says that if we do not get a movement away from people using smartphones, we're no longer going to be fully human beings.
[00:35:32]  And the more I've thought about it, the more I look at what's happening in our country, the more I agree with it.
[00:35:36]  Here's a challenge for you: Can you go a weekend without using your phone?
[00:35:42]  The best times that I have are when I go backpacking in Montana and Wyoming, which I'm planning to do very soon.
[00:35:49]  When I just turn off my phone and I just am able to enjoy God's creation, I don't have to worry about tweets and emails.
[00:35:57]  Can you cut your screen time in half?
[00:36:01]  Usually, our phones are sources of anxiety, especially with young people.
[00:36:06]  It will not bring you happiness.
[00:36:08]  It will not bring you joy.
[00:36:09]  It won't.
[00:36:10]  And for parents out there, please take the devices away from your kids.
[00:36:14]  They don't need them.
[00:36:16]  They just don't.
[00:36:18]  It's not making them smarter, unless they're listening to the Charlie Kirk show.
[00:36:23]  And if that's the case, then buy them an extra iPhone.
[00:36:27]  All kidding aside, most time spent on these phones are for social media apps.
[00:36:32]  Parents, I implore you, please.
[00:36:35]  Your 12-year-old does not need a smartphone.
[00:36:38]  Your 15-year-old does not need a smartphone.
[00:36:42]  Instead, have them pick up a book.
[00:36:45]  Go outside.
[00:36:46]  Enjoy this beautiful country that we have.
[00:36:50]  I am very fearful that the more time people spend on these devices and the less time they spend interacting with human beings, we will no longer have a country, but we will no longer have a species.
[00:37:00]  We'll become quasi-cyborgs.
[00:37:03]  It's a longer issue to talk about a different time.
[00:37:06]  Email me your thoughts, freedom at charliekirk.com, freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:37:09]  Thank you guys for listening.
[00:37:10]  We're going to be advocating for the total and complete ban and deletion of TikTok here on the Charlie Kirk show.
[00:37:16]  Hopefully, we can get it done to save our country and maybe even help save the human species.
[00:37:21]  That might be awfully ambitious, but might as well think big.
[00:37:24]  I encourage you to check out that episode that we did previously.
[00:37:27]  God bless you guys.
[00:37:28]  Thanks so much for listening.