The far-left ACLU is urging Congress not to ban the China-owned social media platform TikTok, saying that prohibiting the app owned by a hostile foreign nation would violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.
“Congress is trying to ban TikTok,” lamented a woman in a video posted to social media by the ACLU this week — just before a U.S. House of Representatives committee was set to take up legislation involving the Chinese app.
Watch Below:
A ban on TikTok would violate the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans who use the app to express themselves daily. pic.twitter.com/rCvCTMOza7
— ACLU (@ACLU) February 27, 2023
“Congress will consider a bill that effectively bans TikTok for people in the U.S., and the way that they’re planning to do it will undermine our First Amendment rights for years to come,” the woman continued.
“The law would forbid U.S. citizens from engaging with entities that may transfer sensitive personal data to a foreign entity that is subject to the influence of China,” she added.
A TikTok ban would allegedly “limit Americans’ political discussion, artistic expression, free exchange of ideas — and even prevent people from posting cute animal videos and memes,” the ACLU said in a letter to lawmakers, according to a report by MSN.
“Americans have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world,” the ACLU added.
Last month, former Deputy National Security Adviser of the United States Matthew Pottinger said during the first China Select Committee hearing that Chinese company-linked platforms, such as TikTok, “gives the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] the ability to manipulate our social discourse.”
“TikTok is already one of the most powerful media companies in American history, and it’s still growing. It’s not just dances and kid stuff. It’s becoming a major source of news for a generation of Americans,” he added.
TikTok is known by many for being nothing more than Chinese surveillance and psyops thinly veiled as a social media platform. The Chinese app has already shown itself to be a danger for kids and teens, a national security threat, and meddling in U.S. elections.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to approve legislation that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban the Chinese social media app TikTok and other apps nationwide.
On Monday, the White House issued a directive that all gave government agencies 30 days to eliminate TikTok, which is now banned by law from any U.S. government devices.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.