Folks,
I'll get straight to it: I'm AGAINST the upcoming TikTok ban! I'm against it for a couple of reasons. One, the US Government wants first dibs on spying on Americans; the ban is partly out of jealousy. Two, it establishes the precedent of being able to ban any app or platform that they don't like. Though I have an account on TikTok to follow a few people, I'm not active on it; I've never posted a video on there, nor do I plan to. That is to say that a TikTok ban won't affect me much, if at all, personally. That said, I'm still troubled by the fact that the Feds are riding roughshod over the Constitution by banning TikTok.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Twitter Papers. The Twitter Papers were released after Elon Musk purchased the platform from founder Jack Dorsey. The Twitter Papers detailed all the behind the scenes arm twisting the US Government did to censor those who were critical of the COVID vaccine, the COVID narrative, government policy, and so on. The US Government uses the Big Tech platforms for its own ends. If you'd like to learn more, go to https://theconservativetreehouse.com, and search for the Twitter Papers. They're an EYE OPENER!
Truth be told, the US Government has been involved with the Big Tech platforms from the beginning. For example, let's look at Facebook. Do you think Facebook was started by then college student Mark Zuckerberg in his dorm room? If so, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd LOVE to talk to you about! No, Facebook started life as a DARPA program; it was originally called Project Lifelog. Its purpose was to get people to provide information about themselves and their lives voluntarily; in other words, it was an early form of Facebook. Isn't it propitious how, when Project Lifelog ended (at least as an official DARPA project), Facebook started at the same time?
DARPA is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's the Department of Defense's agency responsible for developing all the cutting edge, whiz bang devices and systems the US Armed Forces use today. Among the things that DARPA pioneered were stealth aircraft, GPS, the Internet, and even the graphical user interface and mouse we use with our computers.
Let's also not forget that the CIA established its own front venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel, to help FUND a lot of the Big Tech companies when they were started! The Feds, via their front VC firms like In-Q-Tel, provided seed money to all the tech startups, and then let them fight it out to see who would be left standing. There was real competition among the tech startups, but they were all funded by the Feds; no matter who won, they'd be beholden to the US Government, and would therefore do the Feds' bidding in the future. Moreover, even now, intelligence community (IC) heads are on the boards of the Big Tech companies today. That's right; you have IC brass on the boards of the Big Tech companies, influencing what they do.
The Internet was another DARPA project. It was originally conceived by one of their psychologists, a chap by the name of JCR Licklider. Back in the early 1960s, he envisioned what he called the Intergalactic Computer Network where everyone could congregate online. The US Government developed the Internet, in part, to monitor us. Why? I'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, it took until the early-mid 1990s before computer technology and bandwidth caught up to enable Licklider's vision to come true.
Why is that important? Why would the Feds want the Internet and social media companies? Well, I'm old enough to remember when there were only the Big Three TV networks; I'm of course talking about ABC, CBS, and NBC. They controlled TV programming and the news back in those days; if the Big Three networks didn't cover a story, it didn't happen. That is to say that the US Government and the mass media controlled the narrative.
However, what they couldn't control, or even monitor, was public response to the official narrative at any given time. What do the people think about this? What do they think about that? With no monitoring system in place, there was an open feedback loop. What the Internet and the Big Tech social media companies basically did was to close that feedback loop. Now, the US Government can monitor the response to the official narrative at any given time, thus enabling them to adjust their policies and actions in real time.
For example, a year or so ago, there was a big, public push for central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, worldwide. Every government was working on one. When the public got wind of what CBDCs would mean; when the public figured out the implications of having a cashless society; there was a firestorm on social media about it. The people were spreading the word, and efforts were being organized to push back against CBDCs. Notice how governments have since toned down talk of CBDCs? That's why; they saw the firestorm on social media, and they figured out that their present approach to implement CBDCs was not working. That's what the Internet and the Big Tech platforms were created to do. In this way, they were and are arms of the Federal Government.
Now, before I continue, I don't think for one minute that the psychopaths in government have given up on CBDCs-not for a minute. CBDCs are an authoritarian's WET DREAM! They enable control over us that Hitler, Stalin, and Mao could only dream of. I think that, thanks to what they saw on social media and what people were saying about CBDCs, I think that the powers that (shouldn't) be are regrouping, so they can figure out another way to implement CBDCs; I think that they'll use cryptocurrencies as a backdoor way to implement them. THAT is what the Internet and Big Tech were really designed for! That is why, decades ago, DARPA conceived the Internet and social media.
In other words, the Federal Government, via the Internet and the Big Tech social media companies, spies on Americans. They've been doing it for a long time. Now, China, with its TikTok platform, is spying on Americans and users worldwide. As usual, the US Government HATES the competition! One reason for the TikTok ban is to eliminate the competition. It's all right if the Feds spy on us, but not all right for the Chinese to do so. One reason for the ban is a turf war.
The second problem I have with the TikTok ban is the precedent it establishes. If TikTok can be banned today, then what can be banned tomorrow? For example, there's an excellent alternative social media platform called Gab. It was founded by Christian Andrew Torba. Gab is a mix of Facebook and Twitter. Though it's a true free speech platform (i.e. anything goes on there), Gab has a decided Christian, conservative, libertarian, and anti-establishment bent to it. I could see the Feds wanting to close down Gab in the near future. Since the door to banning platforms has been opened with the TikTok ban, what's to stop the Feds from banning Gab? What's to stop them from banning an app or platform that they don't like? The answer, of course, is nothing.
In closing, I'm opposed to the upcoming TikTok ban. Though I think TikTok is a cancer on society; though I think it's rotting the brains of a generation; I don't think it should be banned. People should be free to use any app or social media platform that they like. The US Government is banning TikTok for two primary reasons. One, the Feds hate the competition! It's all right for them to spy on us, but not the Chinese. Two, if TikTok can be banned today, who can be banned tomorrow? The Feds can use the threat of banning a platform to make them play ball; they can twist the arms of, say Facebook, to do the bidding of the Federal Government. Those are the problems I have with the TikTok ban.
That's all for now. Until next time...
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