Episode 14: TikTok: Countdown to Censorship

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that will ban TikTok in the United States if its China-based owner, ByteDance, doesn't sell within six months, a move supported by and spearheaded by President Joe Biden. Although the bill has garnered broad bipartisan support, public support may be a bit different. Ty, Jay and Meredith discuss the merits of the bill (or the lack thereof), how it reeks of McCarthyism and government censorship, and ask an important question: Why doesn't the U.S. have privacy laws regulating all tech companies? 0:00 - Intro ("vacation" time, Jay's shitter's full) 14:02 - Sounds of the Week: Dallas Seavey wins record 6th Iditarod race 'Oppenheimer' Wins Best Picture 35:57 - TikTok ban Songs: "Startin' Up A Posse" by Anthrax "Books Are Burning" by XTC "Fuck The FCC" by Eric Idle and John Du Prez Notes: Tom Brokaw (Dana Carvey) Pre-Tapes - Saturday Night Live (2:12) Dallas Seavey wins 6th Iditarod championship, most ever in the world's most famous sled dog race (first Sounds of the Week entry) Iditarod rules (gutting rule is Rule 34) A moose attack, an injured dog, an improper gutting: drama at Alaska's Iditarod, explained (18:50 - Answers Meredith and Jay's questions about the Iditarod gutting rule. Spoiler alert: It ties to Alaskan state hunting laws) 2024 Academy Awards winners (second Sounds of the Week entry) Elon Musk tweet about Academy Awards (29:57) H.R.7521 - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (bill to ban TikTok) House Passes Bill to Force TikTok Sale From Chinese Owner or Ban the App Internet privacy laws revealed - how your personal information is protected online (44:00 - mention of lack of federal laws regulating online privacy) Antitrust: Commission fines Google €2.42 billion for abusing dominance as search engine by giving illegal advantage to own comparison shopping service - Factsheet (44:27) TikTok and Douyin Explained (46:12 - research debunking many claims about TikTok privacy, censorship and connection with Chinese government) About Form W-8 BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals) (49:55 - mentioned by Jay when talking about bad tax advice on TikTok) Watch: Marjorie Taylor Greene voices opposition to TikTok bill (55:15) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweet against TikTok ban (55:15) Web searches for VPNs swell 400% in Texas as Pornhub blocks access (1:02:34) What the hell is wrong with TikTok? Are progressive politics the real reason why US lawmakers are spooked by Tiktok? TikTok creators warn of economic impact if app sees ban, call it a vital space for the marginalized Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.