More About That Proposed Tiktok Ban

Leslie Harris here. I love social media, but I have purposely stayed off of Tiktok since I don’t need anything to waste even more of my time. And, I know we have discussed Tiktok here recently, but a lot of people who responded don’t seem to understand the gravity of this situation.

Did you know that Tiktok is owned by a Chinese technology firm, that has ties to the Chinese government? US lawmakers fear that the Chinese Communist Party (CPP) could demand access to the data that Tiktok has. (as they have with other companies) That means all of the data of Tiktok’s US customers, which could conceivably put US security at risk.

Our US lawmakers are taking this very seriously. Here in Illinois, Democratic Representatives like Nikki Budzinski, Bill Foster and Robin Kelly, along with Republican reps Mike Bost, Darin LaHood and Mary E. Miller all voted in favor of a bill that would ban the app unless it’s parent company sells.

The House of Representatives voted 352 to 65 in favor of the bill, citing a national security threat. Now it goes to the Senate.

I don’t want to minimize the effect this will have on US users of Tiktok. I realize that many people have built lucrative businesses based on the platform. So what to do?

My hope Is that Tiktok’s parent company will agree to sell the app. If not, maybe some smart technical person here in the US can replicate the platform so that Tiktok users will be able to transition quickly and easily.

Let me know your thoughts in the Facebook comments.