Why Do People Use TikTok on Government-issued Devices? The Case of “That Midwestern Mom” Amber Estenson

As it stands, government employees on the federal level and in several states are mostly prohibited from using TikTok on government-issued devices. In May of 2023, Montana became the first state to ban the app on all personal devices. The ban would have taken effect in November when the judge blocked the law. The state appealed the decision.

Two years ago, when she uploaded one of her quirky Minnesota “salad” concoctions, “That Midwestern Mom” Amber Estenson went viral. The ingredients — Snickers bars, apples, Jell-O and Cool Whip — made her a viral sensation.

Some other TikTokers use their platform to give back. William White, also known as “Izzy White”, is an ex-felon and a former drug dealer. He said he helps homeless people in his community.

TikTok didn’t give an interview to NPR. The government is trying to strip 170 million Americans of their rights to free expression, according to a statement. If this is adopted, it will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and hurt the livelihoods of many creators across the country.

There does not seem to be any historical precedent for TikTok’s role in the United States today. The platform has become one of the country’s biggest news sources, especially for people younger than 30, and has collected vast amounts of information about Americans. TikTok is also owned by a company, ByteDance, that’s based in a country that is America’s biggest rival for global power: China.

Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PH.R. 7521): a Republican Senator’s Rep. Mike Gallagher

The bill, which passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week with unanimous approval, appears to have the support it needs to pass the House.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and introduced the legislation, emphasized that the bill could not be used against American social media companies or individual social media users. He added that “it takes no position at all on the content of speech, only foreign adversary control.”

In speeches leading up to the vote on H.R. 7521, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, members of Congress highlighted the many security concerns with the app, including the potential for employees at the Chinese company to access American user data, and the spread of pro-China propaganda.

The bill is needed because of the lobbying campaign launched by TikTok, which used location data to connect users to their member of Congress.

Teenagers crying and one threatening suicide were just some of the calls member offices received, he said. “That, to me demonstrates how the platform could be weaponized in the future.”

If foreign owned apps are found to be a national security risk, the bill will establish a process for the president to address them. Users can download their own data and switch to another platform.

Illinois Democrat, Raja Krishnamoorthi, is the ranking Democrat on the House Select committee on China and helped write the bill. He pushed back on the company’s argument, telling NPR, “There’s no first amendment right to espionage, there’s no first amendment right to harm our national security.”

The company stresses that it has invested its own money to set up a firewall in an effort dubbed “Project Texas” to address data privacy concerns and keep users’ data in the U.S.

Trump’s Twitter War: Where Are We Going? What Do We Need to Know? How Do U.S. Social Media Users Should Think About Facebook?

Donald Trump proposed a ban on Muslims in the White House. But he does not support the House bill.

He vowed to outlaw the social media app when he was president. In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Trump said he was against a ban because it would cause users to switch to a more dangerous platform.

“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok. He doesn’t like the idea that you can make Facebook bigger without using TikTok, and he considers Facebook to be an enemy of the people.

Despite low unemployment and falling inflation, TikTok is full of viral videos bemoaning the U.S. economy. The term Silent Depression is used by a popular group of posts. The posts falsely suggest that the country is in worse shape today than it was in 1930. Jim and Jeanna reported on the posts late last year.

The Twitter TikTok Account of Counterattacks against the Israeli-Palestinian War and the China-Palestine Divestment

After Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack, TikTok flooded users with videos expressing extreme positions from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tilted toward the Palestinian side, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. “Many stoked fear,” The Journal reported. In November, videos praising an old Osama bin Laden letter also went viral.

On Monday, the US intelligence official said that the Chinese government used TikTok to influence the upcoming midterm elections and promote their propaganda. The report warned that the Chinese Communist Party could attempt to influence the presidential election and cause U.S. societal divisions.

The supporters said that the bill was not an all-out ban, but rather an incentive to force the Divestment so that TikTok can separate its ties to China.

The opponents of the bill were similar in their concerns. Opponents fear the bill will be an ineffective solution to real national security concerns, while coming with unacceptable limits on free speech and expansion of governmental power.

The president can control what Americans can see on their phones and computers, but it would be dangerous to give him that kind of power.

Some Democrats had reservations about an all-out ban, even though Chew faced bipartisan grilling. The RestricT Act was put in motion by a group of powerful politicians, but later died due to a strong lobbying campaign by TikTok and Republican concerns that too much executive branch power could be given to the private sector.

The bill could make it difficult for social media platforms to remain in existence, especially mentioning X, which is now owned by Musk.

But Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove noted that Chinese influence operations are not restricted to TikTok. Meta said it removed the Chinese influence operation from its platforms in November of last year. Smaller networks targeted users in India and Tibet.

The closing of TikTok shop would have a negative effect on Dieux because the tool is used by small businesses. Losing that would be difficult. She suspects that a TikTok ban will have an impact on other brands in the United States. It will be a blow to their business.

Sigourney Norman, an artist and former lawyer who uses TikTok to discuss politics, race, gender, and sexuality, says she doesn’t buy lawmakers’ arguments that the bill will help protect the data of American users.