TikTok Is Bad. Banning It Would Be Much Worse.
Americans tend to view bipartisanship favorably. But sometimes, when both parties get together and agree on something, it’s actually a sign that the public is about to get screwed over. Just look at the Patriot Act, for example, and the way the bipartisan post-9/11 law was used to spy on American citizens and violate our rights.
New proposed legislation that would enact a de facto ban on the popular social media platform TikTok is getting support from both sides of the aisle. This kind of government action is bipartisanship of the most toxic kind.
The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority last week. It would, on paper, force TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, to sell off its ownership stake. If it fails to do so, TikTok would be effectively banned in the U.S.