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Will TikTok get banned in the U.S.? There’s a bill making the rounds.

Things are looking a little grim for TikTok in the U.S. again. A couple of years ago, the Trump Administration made noises about banning the app on fears that the China-based app was actually a spy tool that was gathering data on millions of American citizens. Ultimately, nothing happened but now a bi-partisan bill is making the rounds in Washington DC that revisit these issues.

It’s called the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP ACT. It’s written all all-caps because it’s actually an acronym that stands for the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party. No, really.

Both Republicans and Democrats support the bill. Republican Senator Marco Rubio wrote that the legislation would block “all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern.” He’s not specific, but it’s understood that the main target is TikTok.

I continue from Rubio: “This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day. We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China.”

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter responded (via The Verge)

.”It is troubling that rather than encouraging the administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States. We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies — plans that we are well underway in implementing — to further secure our platform in the United States.”

We shall see.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39671 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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