Alarm bells rang in TikTok’s headquarters when the Commerce Committee came forward with a 50-0 vote to drop an ultimatum on TikTok — sever ties with CCP-linked ByteDance, or pay the price.
Concerns about Chinese encroachment seem to be the one issue where left and right seem able to put aside their partisan axes and work toward a shared objective.
We’ve been seeing it with Chairman Rep Gallagher and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the Select Committee on the CCP, and we are seeing it with the Commerce Committee’s vote this week.
A bipartisan measure that could potentially ban social media giant TikTok took a step forward Thursday when a House committee unanimously advancing a bill that, if approved, would give the platform’s Chinese parent company ByteDance six months to sell the app or else be banned altogether, as lawmakers ramp up measures against the widely used app. — Forbes
That triggered a huge backlash by the social media juggernaut, with American TikTok users getting a popup window requiring users to give their zip code information and send a message to their member of Congress before continuing the use of their social media.
Screenshot:
This highlights in big neon letters the exact reason politicians have raised concerns that the social media platform cannot be trusted to be an honest broker that offers a platform without pushing a political agenda.
As Chairman Gallagher framed the issue in his press release:
This morning, TikTok put out a pop-up on their app in a call to action to an unknown number of users, urging them to call their representatives on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to vote NO on the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The pop-up misrepresents the bill as a “ban” on TikTok in a blatant pressure campaign to intimidate members. The bill places the choice in TikTok’s hands—sever ties with the Chinese Communist Party and CCP-controlled ByteDance or the bill will prevent TikTok’s availability on U.S. app stores. Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party released the below statement:
“Today, we are seeing why the Chinese Communist Party is so desperate to hang onto TikTok, because of its ability to target Americans and promote CCP propaganda. Now, our fears are coming to fruition. Many users of TikTok today are reporting that they are being required to call their Members of Congress before accessing the app. TikTok is falsely labeling our bipartisan legislation as a ‘total ban’ of TikTok, thinking they can trick their users into unwittingly assisting their propaganda campaign. To further highlight the threats posed by the current ownership structure of TikTok and ByteDance, TikTok users are being targeted based on their location – highlighting the exact data privacy concerns that our bill seeks to address.
“Let’s be clear: the script TikTok is forcing upon its users is a complete lie. Our bill is NOT a ban of TikTok. It’s about making sure TikTok doesn’t answer to the CCP. It’s about ensuring the Chinese government cannot weaponize the app against Americans and their government – as we are seeing happen today.”
If a relative few Facebook ads that anyone with a dollar could purchase were sufficient cause to claim Trump and Russia had some kind of collusion agreement to mess with the 2016 election, what might be said about the direct involvement of a social media juggernaut with connections to a country that is openly hostile to the American way of life?
Psalms of War: Prayers That Literally Kick Ass is a collection, from the book of Psalms, regarding how David rolled in prayer. I bet you haven’t heard these read, prayed, or sung in church against our formidable enemies — and therein lies the Church’s problem. We’re not using the spiritual weapons God gave us to waylay the powers of darkness. It might be time to dust them off and offer ‘em up if you’re truly concerned about the state of Christ’s Church and of our nation.
Also included in this book, Psalms of War, are reproductions of the author’s original art from his Biblical Badass Series of oil paintings.
This is a great gift for the prayer warriors. Real. Raw. Relevant.
