Ron Paul Liberty Report - Weekly Update --- TikTok Hypocrisy
Aired: 2024-04-30
Duration: 03:34


=== Biden's TikTok Dilemma (02:19) ===

[00:00:00]  Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report.
[00:00:04]  President Biden's campaign will continue using the popular social media site TikTok, even though the president supported a provision in the military aid bill he recently signed forcing TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok within 270 days.
[00:00:24]  If ByteDance does not sell TikTok within the required time, TikTok will be banned in the United States.
[00:00:32]  Biden's continued use of TikTok to reach the approximately 150 million Americans' TikTok users.
[00:00:40]  It's not the only example of hypocrisy from politicians who support the TikTok ban.
[00:00:47]  The TikTok ban was driven by claims that because ByteDance is a Chinese company, TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government and thus is helping the Chinese government collect data on American citizens.
[00:01:03]  However, the only tie ByteDance has to the Chinese government is via a Chinese government-controlled company that owns a small amount of stock in a separate ByteDance operation.
[00:01:15]  Furthermore, ByteDance stores its data in an American facility not accessible by the Chinese government.
[00:01:23]  Just days before passing the TikTok ban, the same Senate that is so concerned about TikTok's alleged violations of Americans' privacy passed the FISA Reauthorization Act.
[00:01:36]  This bill not only extended existing authorities for warrantless wiretapping and surveillance, it made it easier for government agencies to spy on American citizens.
[00:01:49]  It did this by requiring anyone with access to a targeted individual's electronic device to cooperate with intelligent agencies.
[00:01:58]  Supporters of banning TikTok also cited concerns over the site's content moderation policies.
[00:02:05]  These policies reportedly forbid posting embarrassing to the Chinese government, such as some related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square confrontation or the Free Tibet movement.

=== TikTok and the Liberty Movement (01:14) ===

[00:02:19]  TikTok, the most social media platforms engaged in content moderation.
[00:02:25]  The TikTok ban was supported by Democrats, including President Biden, who have a history of encouraging some politicians who take sensible positions on U.S. intervention in Ukraine.
[00:02:40]  Another major reason banning TikTok has strong bipartisan support is that the site is being used by many young people to share information on the Israeli government's action in Gaza.
[00:02:53]  The head of the Anti-Defamation League was actually caught on tape complaining about the TikTok problem.
[00:03:01]  This use of TikTok made TikTok a target for the many politicians who think the First Amendment makes an exception for speech critical of Israel.
[00:03:12]  The silver lining in the TikTok ban is it's waking up more Americans, especially young Americans, to the threat the out-of-control welfare warfare surveillance state poses to their liberty and prosperity.
[00:03:27]  This provides a great opportunity to spread the ideas of liberty and grow the liberty movement.