Montana's House voted 54-43 which gave approval for SB419. The bill now goes to Montana's governor Greg Gianforte for approval. If he should sign the bill into law, the ordinance would begin January 2024. Apps that provide the app could face charges of $10,000 a day for each offense. It should be noted that users of the app will not be punished. I have read the bill, and this is true. The only ones who would face penalty would be those providing the app- not those who use it.
However, upon reading the bill it is so clearly xenophobic. It is the same rhetoric that federal proponents of the RESTRICT Act spew. "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are utilizing TikTok to spy on Americans." Let's get real. If the United States was truly worried about the CCP spying and utilizing American data for whatever evil plans they had, then why are there "secret" (but known by the CIA and other government entities) CCP police stations popping up around the country? According to Washburn, she states that "China owns roughly 384,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land" (2023). It just seems that if the CCP were truly the United States' adversary, one that posed a substantial threat, then would the U.S. not do more to stop the CCP from police stations as well as stop China from owning any land or shares within company stocks. There is a reason why the U.S. is not doing that, and it is because they are using China as a veil to what really drives their motives by banning TikTok. It is simply an app that interconnects the entire world. Those of us on the app have witnessed real footage of the war in Ukraine, and the protests in France. Many of us found out about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, first on TikTok before major news sites were covering the information. I think TikTok poses a threat to mainstream media because the narrative cannot be controlled by any one group. Also, it is ridiculous that in America, wealth equates to speech. Which would mean that those with less wealth have a limited freedom of speech, which would be an infringement on the First Amendment -but we can get into that another time.
After watching the Congressional hearing with Shou Chew, it was evident that the U.S. is utilizing xenophobia to try and create a false fear that TikTok is selling and using your data- as if Meta or Twitter don't do the same exact thing. But it's fine if its Americans sell your data to become wealthy, which is exactly why the xenophobia is so evident. You can't miss it, it's like a stop sign.
Your Daily Load will be covering the RESTRICT Act in another post, so stay tuned for that!
References
Washburn, E. (2023, March 1). How Much U.S. Farmland Does China Really Own? More Than Bill Gates—And Less Than 17 Other Countries. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywashburn/2023/03/01/how-much-us-farmland-does-china-really-own-more-than-bill-gates-and-less-than-17-other-countries/?sh=74734d5f421f
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