Update: The House passed the bill. Rep. Massie tried to stop the bill but failed. He spoke to his colleagues for 20 minutes. Biden supports it but didn’t at first. Thomas Massie believes this bill will allow the Uniparty to block websites.
Nancy Pelosi is thrilled about this bill.
Today I claimed 20 minutes in opposition to the TikTok ban bill, and yielded time to several likeminded colleagues.
This bill gives the President far too much authority to determine what Americans can see and do on the internet.
This is my closing statement, before I voted No. pic.twitter.com/xMxp9bU18t
โ Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 13, 2024
Tucker warns that the TikTok legislation is really meant to force a sale of Elon Musk’s “X” for election interference.
“In a classified briefing this afternoon,” Tucker wrote, “attended by officials from the Biden Justice Department, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Elon committed โelection interferenceโ in 2022 by โchanging the algorithmsโ on X to alter the results of the midterms that year. Not coincidentally, the anti-TikTok legislation now being debated on the Hill would allow the federal government to force the sale of any social media platform that interferes in elections. Just so you know whatโs coming in 2025.
Elon Musk responded by saying that he made the algorithm open source. Itโs “neutral to all parties.” As he said, But of course that is “election interference” by her standards.
The only thing that works for hardcore leftist AOC is to be pro-left.
Actually, I made the algorithm open source and neutral to all parties, but of course that *is* โelection interferenceโ by her standards
โ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2024
X influencer Melissa Tate wrote on X:
“Elon Musk interfered w/ their interference in elections which they did via censorship & rigging the algorithm against the opposition They always accuse you of what they themselves are doing. See โRules for Radicalsโ These are dangerous people who must be defeated to save freedom.”
About TikTok
America does not need a Chinese Communist owned app, but is the legislation meant to go beyond TikTok?
Eric Erickson said the TikTok legislation is not about the 1st amendment and free speech. It only requires the CCP to divest control of TikTok. It does nothing to censor TikTok or its users. Anyone saying this is a free speech issue is either ignorant or paid for.
Thomas Massie shared excerpts from the bill, which appears to go beyond TikTok.
[If they want to ban it, why not write a one-page bill that says TikTok is banned because the CCP is such and such?]
Mr Massie wrote:
The so-called TikTok ban is a trojan horse. The President will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps. The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S. (or offshore) INTERNET HOSTING SERVICE or App Store, not the โforeign adversary.โ
If you think this isnโt a Trojan horse and will only apply to TikTok and foreign-adversary social media companies, then contemplate why someone thought it was important to get a very specific exclusion for their internet based business written into the bill: pic.twitter.com/LnHsmEgtt9
โ Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 12, 2024
Rep. Massie said, “Leadership is moving the TikTok bill this week under โsuspension of the rules,โ which means short debate and no opportunity to amend it. Iโm against this bill.”
Dr. Steve Turley wrote on X that it is a Trojan Horse.
“Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) said it as well: the whole TikTok ban is a trojan horse meant to play on the impulsiveness of Republicans and Republican politicians. Slow down and think before you give the government even more. power than it already has!,” Turley said.
Laura Ingraham took Massie’s comment and claimed he is supporting the CCP. This sounds like the Putin puppet attack against people who think the Ukraine war is a mistake.
She wrote: “Thomas Massie supports the CCP. And why, given what we know. RepAshleyHinson (@Ashley Hinson) posted: The Chinese version of TikTok โ Douyin โ promotes educational content and has a time limit. Meanwhile, the CCP is targeting young girls with eating disorder videos & pushing content that downplays terrorism on TikTok in the U.S. Thatโs not a coincidence. https://x.com/repashleyhinson/status/1767294426504651145?s=66&t=ZY0j1eVQ1gPQbUyfnL_IMA.”
Most would agree TikTok needs to go, but Mr. Massie is a libertarian and believes none should be banned, but he definitely sees a problem with this bill beyond that issue.
Read the document here.
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