Senate Bill to Ban TikTok

I'm not sure the point you're trying to make here - because the U.S. has flaws, then - what? China?

Hm, I think the national security concerns are far heftier here than kids being influenced. ByteDance can be forced to do almost anything by the CCP. Sure, American tech companies might be forced to do things by the American govt but theoretically there are checks / balances / rule of law to prevent misuse.

On the kids' manipulation -- even though that's not the main intent and American social media co's influence kids as well -- I'd still argue it's significant. A foreign adversary can control how your population thinks... it almost speaks for itself.

The "name a specific company" is known as a bill of attainder ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_attainder )

> A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attainder resulting from the normal judicial process, the effect of such a bill is to nullify the targeted person's civil rights, most notably the right to own property (and thus pass it on to heirs), the right to a title of nobility, and, in at least the original usage, the right to life itself.

Within the US...

> In 2011, the House voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler called that vote a bill of attainder, saying it was unconstitutional as such because the legislation was targeting a specific group.

With that in mind, calling out a specific company gets dicy.

Thus, they are instead written as:

(3) COVERED HOLDING.—The term “covered holding”—

(A) means, regardless of how or when such holding was or will be obtained or otherwise come to have been held, a controlling holding held, directly or indirectly, in an ICTS covered holding entity by—

(i) a foreign adversary;

(ii) an entity subject to the jurisdiction of, or organized under the laws of, a foreign adversary; or

(iii) an entity owned, directed, or controlled by an entity described in subparagraphs (i) or (ii); and

(B) includes any other holding, the structure of which is designed or intended to evade or circumvent the application of this Act, subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

...

(10) ICTS COVERED HOLDING ENTITY.—The term “ICTS covered holding entity” means any entity that—

(A) owns, controls, or manages information and communications technology products or services; and

(B) (i) has not less than 1,000,000 United States-based annual active users at any point during the year period preceding the date on which the covered holding is referred to the President; or

(ii) for which more than 1,000,000 units have been sold to persons in the United States before the date on which the covered holding is referred to the President.

That when we talk about China, we see all of their flaws as completely damning them and everything they do as a country, but in the same breath we speak of the rule of law in the USA as if that means something when it comes to mass surveillance (it does not - the USA is a pioneer in illegal mass surveillance). This is a particular problem when it comes to TikTok, because senators look at TikTok collecting data and influencing Americans and they say "We cannot let China do this to us!" while completely ignoring Facebook and Microsoft doing all of the same to us. This leads to harmful bills like this TikTok bill when what we really need are protections from all mass surveillance, foreign and domestic.

But that will never happen as long as the good citizens of the USA continue to pretend that the rule of law has any meaning in the USA when it comes to mass surveillance, and we point at China and chide them for the millions they have imprisoned as if that is not the pot calling the kettle black.

Calling out China will change very little there, and serves mostly to distract the conversation from the problems we really have the power to solve. We only have the power to change ourselves. The people in the USA and around the globe who suffer from US surveillance will continue to suffer all the while.

And what is worse, China will simply start running domestic companies and collecting our data all the same, because these bills aren't solving the real problem.

Blindly pointing the finger at China causes real harm to us.

> Don't worry about the US. It is still the greatest country and will remain so for at least 50 years.

That's a shortsighted and very optimistic viewpoint, dripping with typical American pride.

You're underestimating just how much damage foreign propaganda and misinformation can do and has done to your great country. Trump getting to power, and still being a strong contender for 2024, mass delusion and rising popularity of conspiracy theories (QAnon, pizzagate, etc.), record-high social unrest and division, racial tensions, protests, marches, insurrections, etc.

And this is just starting to unravel.

The ironic thing is that all that great technology built by the US, allowing everyone to join, connecting the world and whatnot, has been the perfect weapon of information warfare. You've essentially built the weapons, and handed them to your enemies, and are somehow still debating if that's the case, and what to do about it. This confused state is indicative of the effects of psyops, where the afflicted adversary doesn't understand the situation they're in, or how they got there. An ex-KGB agent explained this well way back in 1985[1].

The East certainly has an advantage, considering they've been doing this for decades now, and Western influence on their own population is close to zero, because of their isolation from the internet.

Banning TikTok is a good defensive measure, but it's too little, too late, to reverse the damage already done, and to stop the bleeding. The US would have to do a major shakeup and banning of foreign accounts across all social media sites, and judging by the reactions on this well educated forum alone, that wouldn't fly with the general population, who perceive this as an infringement on free speech.

EDIT: Ah, it seems the bill is broader than just banning TikTok. Good, it might be the only playable move. Unfortunately, it requires more government oversight at the expense of some civil liberties, and I can already see how unpopular this will be.

Buckle up, it's going to get even bumpier. I suspect the US in its current dominant position won't last more than a couple of decades, at most. Funny that with all its untouchable military power, it's completely defenseless against this type of attack.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmXiapfCs8