Social (media) security
Social media is in the news again. Considering the lion’s share of Americans use at least one, if not many platforms, it’s not surprising. Even our serious friends who say they don’t do social media can usually be found on LinkedIn.
In more cases than not, the go-to social media source can vary by age and even gender, but I’m not touching gender, because gender issues rank about No. 872 on my Top 10 list of things that matter.
Facebook is my preferred outlet, but I’m at the top end of Generation X and, for the most part, we chose Facebook a long time ago. My generation is reaching the age when we think the only time we need personal change is when we approach a parking meter.
So I turned to my 23-year-old son and 26-year-old niece for—ahem—guidance.
My son uses Instagram mostly, but sometimes uses the platform formerly known as Twitter for sports, and TikTok for “mindless entertainment.” Yes, “mindless entertainment.” Man, I love that kid.
My niece also uses Instagram most, says Twitter is “dying,” and TikTok is becoming something of a “throwaway.” If she wants mindless entertainment she goes to the “Reels” feature on Facebook. Hey, just because 170 million Americans have downloaded TikTok doesn’t mean all 170 million use it.
Be that as it may, TikTok’s the one making the news today, and if I had to guess, it’ll continue for at least a while.
Last Wednesday, House Republicans and Democrats came together and voted (352-65) overwhelmingly to ban it from the U.S., unless its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance sells its stake.
Nancy Pelosi said it was “Tic-tac-toe for TikTok …” How cute. Isn’t it about time to ride off into the sunset, Nancy?
All four members of the Arkansas delegation in the House voted with the majority. Given past statements, Sen. Tom Cotton will likely do the same. It wouldn’t be surprising if Sen. John Boozman follows suit when the Senate takes action, which it promises to do.
And, for good measure, President Biden has sent a clear signal that he’ll sign the bill if or when it reaches his desk.
It should be a slam-dunk. It’s hard to think, at least from a Civics 101 perspective, that the Senate as a whole would do something different, considering senators represent states made up of the same congressional districts whose representatives voted the way they did.
Then again, the Hogs beat Duke in the regular season after beating Purdue in the most competitive exhibition game in the history of the Milky Way, yet here we sit, ineligible to play in the National Insignificant Tournament (NIT).
Trump, however, opposes the bill because he says a TikTok ban would help Facebook, which according to him is “the enemy of the people.” I assume this ranks it just behind Jimmy Kimmel and Taylor Swift, in his eyes, as America’s greatest threats.
No surprise, but his reasoning, based on butterflies, moonbeams and fairy tales, doesn’t resonate with me. Neither do the arguments by either Democrats or Republicans who oppose the bill.
Democrats in opposition say that picking on one platform when other platforms do the same thing is problematic and that the lives of content creators would be disrupted.
Those might be causes for concern, but the
other platforms aren’t linked to Communist China—which most Americans, including this one, rightly see as a clear and present danger to national security.
As far as disrupting the lives of content creators, I’m not smelling what they’re stepping in. The bill doesn’t ban content, and there are plenty of other outlets that would be happy to spew it, no matter how useless the content may be.
For Republicans in opposition, it’s more about taking a hands-off laissez-faire approach. They say consumers should simply be warned of the threat.
My friends who can’t get past my disdain for Trump to understand what I truly believe politically may be surprised to know that under other circumstances, a laissez-faire approach is exactly the one I prefer. However, China’s ability to force TikTok to provide data on 170 million Americans is too dangerous of a threat. So, for me, all bets are off.
While the kids (younger than my son or niece) are up in arms about the potential ban, their opinions are not informed by the benefit of having lived during a time of true international conflict. Odds are that their parents or grandparents haven’t been affected on a personal level enough to understand that just because we live in America doesn’t mean we can always control our foes.
This is about much more than the freedom to watch 35-second videos of people dancing idiotically in their kitchens, boats crashing into docks, or clever dad jokes being told in a deer blind.
Whether the legislative concepts in the bill are the best available is open for debate, but the rub that ByteDance could be made to provide data on 170 million Americans to a known foreign adversary is real.
Nobody is telling content creators they can’t create, nor are they shielding viewers’ eyes from seeing silly content. Congress is just telling them they’ll have to do it on another app.