We’ve seen it again and again: politicians using foreign threats to expand their control over the American population. The latest example is the proposed legislation to ban the Chinese-owned app TikTok, called the RESTRICT Act. Sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans, the bill is supposedly about protecting national security and ending foreign interference in our elections. But in reality, it would give the federal government unprecedented power to punish American citizens and regulate how they communicate with each other.
It’s no secret that TikTok is a problem. It’s been accused of involvement in Chinese propaganda, the transmission of user data to China, and even dangerous challenges that have led to accidental deaths. But it’s wrong to use those issues as a pretext to give the government more control.
Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host and co-founder of the Daily Caller and Daily Caller News Foundation, summed up the situation perfectly. He said that the RESTRICT Act, “is not an effort to push back against China, it is part of a strategy to make America much more like China, with the government in charge of what you read and see and with terrifying punitive powers at their fingertips.”
Indeed, the bill would allow the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence to designate countries as “foreign adversaries” and to regulate certain transactions with them, providing for civil penalties that include a $250,000 fine or criminal penalties that could include 20 years in prison.
The White House has even backed the bill, despite the fact it doesn’t explicitly name TikTok. But the fact is, it’s just another attempt by politicians to grab more control. They’re using the TikTok controversy as a way to push for legislation that would give the government more power to prosecute people and monitor their communications.
It’s a dangerous precedent, and it’s something that Americans need to be aware of and stand against. We need to make sure our government isn’t using the threat of foreign influence as an excuse to take away our freedom and privacy. We need to speak up and make sure that our politicians are held accountable for their actions.