makeasnek

Good point. We are all vulnerable to manipulation and should only read content that is approved by the US Govt. Anybody who breaks this rule should go to jail. That is for our safety ✅

If China is going prevent US companies from doing profitable business within its economic borders I don’t see why the US should allow Chinese companies to engage in profitable businesses ventures within its country.

1. They get to do whatever they want because they're a dicatorship. Saying the US government should be allowed to do something "because China does it" is a real slippery slope. 2. We aren't talking about oil extraction or car sales here, we're talking about something which is explicitly a speech platform. They are different.

It's not just a "company" being banned, it's the government telling you that you can't use that companies services for your speech. Imaging the US government banning the The Guardian because it's not owned by US citizens. That's the same thing as banning TikTok because it's not owned by US Citizens. The government has no right to ban newspapers or websites which are otherwise engaging in legally-protected speech. You have a right to hear what they have to say.

They are all examples of speech platforms the government targeted because they disagreed with what they were publishing. Because of the precedent set in those situations, the government has even more latitude to prosecute even more speech they don't agree with. The basis of the TikTok ban is literally it's "foreign propaganda". Propaganda is just "stuff the government doesn't want you to hear". The right to hear things the government doesn't want you to hear is one of the most basic rights of human expression. Not just in the US, but in the UN Charter on human rights as well.

Fear of "foreign influence"? You would find that exact argument being made by the Soviet Union to block US films and books in their country. You would find that exact argument being used in China to block internet access. You would find that exact argument being made in Iran to stop the discussion of homosexuality.

The govt can do anything it wants to punch back so long as it's not infringing on the rights of its citizens. Our plan to stop China from "influencing us" is to... become more like China?

Who are they worried China is going to influence? Children, right? If it's adults, that's almost more insulting, they think we don't deserve to be able to see all sides of an argument and are too stupid to discern fact from fiction. We may as well dispense with free expression entirely at that point because the government can just say "you're too stupid to read this and we're worried you'll be influenced, so you can only read the books we've pre-approved for you"

It is every American's right to think freely, to speak those thoughts to others, and to have others have the opportunity to hear those thoughts whether or not they are "good influences" according to govt. It is wild how easily people are willing to throw that right away for fears of "foreign influence". What's next, banning TV shows from foreign countries because they might "corrupt our culture"? Banning books with subversive topics because they will "give people bad ideas"?. This is how the road to fascism begins.