âThey want to take away our Tik Tok,â said the students. A few days later they said, âYea, we got our Tik Tok back!â âYes, but itâs not that simple. Itâs still itâs part of an overall attempt to control the narrative, like banning books that talk about US history,â a teacher said. âTheyâll change Tik Tok.â
On January 18th, TikTok went dark for its US users. Let the US politicians and news outlets tell it, and theyâll insist that the app poses a ârisk to national security.â
In early 2023, the FCC warned that ByteDance could share user data with the Chinese government. The FCC failed to mention that Meta, Twitter, Google, and many other tech companies regularly sell user data to companies in China. In March US lawmakers interrogated the CEO of TikTok in hearings but there was not much progress. There was little mention of the app in the media for months.
The truth is, the wildly popular app was shut down because the US ruling class doesnât want the masses, especially youth, to have access to images and facts the US media and education system keeps from them. The CEO of the Zionist ADL has been an outspoken proponent of banning the app. He called it the â24-7 news channel of so many young people and itâs like Al Jazeera on steroids.â
In October of 2023, for the first time ever, people in the US, specifically young people, began to learn that the true nature of the âwarâ was not being shared by US media outlets. US youth used TikTok to learn about the illegal occupation of Palestine and in turn used the app to speak out against the Israeli government. This sparked widespread protests in the US. Outspoken protestors could be found on the campuses of some of the nationâs most prestigious colleges and universities. Protests spread throughout working-class schools and communities.
AIPAC (Zionist lobby) pressured US politicians to shut the protests down. And to shut down TikTok. Many liberal politicians who touted âsaving democracyâ while campaigning, began to pressure college and university leadership to âget controlâ of their campuses. Militarized police forces brutally beat students, professors, and tore down encampments. It became clear exactly who US lawmakers work for. It isnât their constituents.
In March of 2024, US lawmakers approved a foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine. Significantly, tied to the package was legislation to force ByteDance to sell TikTok or have the app banned. It was quickly approved by both the House and Senate with bipartisan support. Biden signed it into law in April. ByteDance was given 360 days to sell TikTok to a US entity – even though it is 60% US owned and all US data is stored in the US
When TikTok recently went dark ahead of the ban, US users were greeted with a basic âOut of Serviceâ message. Within the hour a pop-up message stated that with âPresident Trumpâs help,â they hoped the app would soon be available. When it was available to US users less than twelve hours later, the app bent the knee and shouted Trump out for making it happen.
Within days of the very short-lived ban, Trump was quoted as saying he wants â50% ownershipâ. But itâs already 60% US owned. What gives? They donât want just any venture capitalist investors in charge of Tik Tok. They want it controlled by those completely loyal to US imperialist plans. And who will make changes more subtly than Twitter (X).
Since Trump was last in office, Elon Musk purchased Twitter and Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. While Mark Zuckerburg hasnât purchased any major communication platform or established news organization, he did do away with fact checking on all Meta sites.
The grab for TikTok isnât about national security to keep US usersâ data secure. Itâs about the US ruling class guaranteeing its imperialist interests by having state-controlled media with TikTok, X, Meta, and The Washington Post controlled by loyal billionaires.Â
The rulers are afraid of the masses. They want to keep us all in the dark about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and all their crimes. Writing for, reading, and spreading Red Flag everywhere is therefore more important than ever. The masses wonât be fooled!
Join the fight for a world without billionaires, their wars, and their exploitation.
âA Friend