this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
8 points (70.0% liked)

Oregon

354 readers
1 users here now

Oregon's Lemmy Community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Senate:

Merkley (D) Yes, Wyden (D), No

House:

Republicans: Bentz: Yes, Chavez-DeRemer: Yes

Democrats: Blumenauer: Yes, Bonamici: No, Hoyle: No, Salinas : Yes

Not sure which rep is yours? Find out in one click https://myreps.datamade.us/

President:

Biden (D) - Voted Yes by signing the bill/not vetoing

My personal take (please put your own thoughts in the comments):
I don't use TikTok, I think it's trash, but the democrats handed Trump an absolute win on this for no good reason. The TikTok ban was initially Trump's idea, while he was president, but he couldn't get congress to pass it. But when Biden and dems gained power, they passed it, with a provision set so that the ban doesn't actually come into effect until the start of Trump's turn, where he can cancel it and look like a hero to fans of TikTok and free speech more generally.

The TikTok ban is one of the biggest attacks on free speech I have seen in my lifetime. The government should not be able to dictate how you get your news, period. It's your right to read, view, and speak what you want, even advocating for the overthrow of the government, that's why we have the first amendment. It is one of the few issues that has me considering voting R over D even though I voted straight D last election. Our right to free speech protects all our other rights, this is an incredibly dangerous precedent and the democrats taking an absolute L for no reason. And it won't help them get the youth vote they so desperately need to win elections.

Banning TikTok isn't fighting China, it's becoming China. It's using the same "foreign interference" and "protect the children" line used by despots globally from Xi to Putin as they ban newspapers, websites, and anybody critical of their regime. "But China does it" isn't the great defense people seem to think it is, we don't want to do the same things China does.

We can lose our right to abortion or privacy and use free speech to get it back. If we lose our right to free speech, there's no other right that works the same except possibly the second amendment. The road to tyranny is paved by the loss of individual liberties.

The last thing I want is for the incoming administration to have a nice, legal pathway to clamp down on speech which is critical of them, and platforms which allow that speech. And dems just rolled out the carpet for them on this.

Source for votes:

Senate: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00154.htm#state

House: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202486

top 5 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] jws_shadotak 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

the democrats handed Trump an absolute win on this for no good reason.

Voting on something that Trump supports isn't always a bad thing. This kind of thought is going to hurt everyone more than it'll help.

Banning TikTok isn't fighting China, it's becoming China. It's using the same "foreign interference" and "protect the children" line used by despots globally from Xi to Putin as they ban newspapers, websites, and anybody critical of their regime. "But China does it" isn't the great defense people seem to think it is, we don't want to do the same things China does.

China owns TikTok. They can sway Americans any way they want by promoting videos made to influence people. Imagine if China took over our entire entertainment and tailored it to exactly what they wanted us to see. What effect that would have in 5 years? 10 years?

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

A Chinese company owns a portion of TikTok. But they are based out of Singapore. Quit spewing lie filled rhetoric