A Federal TikTok Ban Is A ‘Misguided Detour’ From Doing What’s Needed To Protect People’s Privacy And Safeguard National Security

By Free Press Photos: YouTube Screenshots WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its holdings of the popular social-media site or face an effective ban in the United States. The White House has indicated that President Biden will sign the legislation, which – after failing to move quickly through the Senate – was folded into a foreign-aid bill that included support for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. According to the bill, ByteDance must sell its TikTok shares within 270 days to a buyer that satisfies U.S. government requirements. If ByteDance refuses to sell, the government will prohibit cloud providers and app stores from distributing TikTok in the United States. TikTok has approximately 170 million active monthly users in the United States alone and is especially popular with younger generations and people of color, who use TikTok to organize, communicate, educate and entertain. Free Press Action Policy Counsel Jenna Ruddock said: “If lawmakers want to rein in the harms of social-media platforms, targeting just one under the guise of national security ignores an entire industry predicated on surveillance capitalism. Like all popular platforms — including those that Meta and Google own...