TikTok BAN!? RESTRICT Act Threatens Digital Freedom!!

Could the U.S government soon have full Control of information online well a Recent U.S bill aimed at reining in Tick Tock has a strong chance of becoming law The Biden Administration is the by the Administration in the Biden Administration is increasing pressure on The popular app Tick Tock over the last Couple of years we've seen governments Around the world increase their scrutiny Of tick tock due to its connections to The Chinese government this scrutiny has Escalated into calls for an outright ban Of the app in some countries and it Appears some governments are using their Banned Tick Tock bills as Trojan horses For unprecedented internet censorship That's why today I'm going to tell you Everything you need to know about this U.S bill before it's too late Let's start with a quick bit of Background as I explained in the Introduction governments around the World have been scrutinizing tiktok for Years due to its connections to the Chinese government this is in part Because Tick Tock collects an Unbelievable amount of data about its Users literally everything your name Your age your phone number your contacts Your location the images and videos on Your phone everything you type on your Phone including the messages you're Sending and receiving

It can even access your camera and Microphone and it can do all of this Even when you're not using the app Now Tick Tock surveillance apologists Have argued that it's no different from Being tracked and traced by an American Tech company like Google or Microsoft The thing is that there are two very Important differences First governments need permission to Access user data in most Western Countries secondly and more importantly This data is being shared with a foreign Government that is the geopolitical Rival of most western Powers consider a Scenario where the Chinese government Orders bike dance the company that owns Tick Tock to execute a Cyber attack on Every device with Tick Tock downloaded In the United States not good on that Note that wouldn't be far off from the Kind of Cyber attack the world economic Forum has been talking about for years More about that in the description I Digress now the other part of why There's been so much scrutiny about Tick Tock ties into the first and that's the Algorithm There have been countless reports of Tick tock feeding straight up evil Content to people in the west recent Reports have focused on tick tock's Promotion of eating disorders and Suicide meanwhile do Yin China's version

Of tick tock also owned by bite dance Shows young people videos of things Being built discoveries being made and Other meaningful things being Accomplished in other words it promotes The exact opposite kind of content that Tick-Tock does in most Western countries Now it doesn't take a geopolitical Expert to realize that this is an overt Form of information Warfare and it begs The question of what should be done About it Well the simple answer is to ban Tick Tock and this is something that former U.S president Donald Trump famously Proposed way back in 2020 Bite dance initially agreed to meet Trump Halfway by selling its U.S Operations to Microsoft this would of Course result in keeping all the data The app collected in the US away from China to my understanding the sale fell Through after bite dance rejected the Offer In any case the idea of a Tick-Tock ban Was ditched after U.S President Joe Biden revoked Trump's related executive Order in 2021. at the time the proposed Ban was seen as political suicide due to The app's popularity Over the last year or so however U.S Politicians have changed their tune on Tick tock now as far as I can tell the Renewed calls to ban Tick Tock began

Late last year when the Biden Administration put together the U.S Government's 1.7 trillion dollar Spending bill for 2023 a provision to Ban Tick Tock from government devices is Buried in the over 4 000 page bill which Passed in December in the months that Followed close allies of the US followed Suit in Banning Tick Tock from Government devices namely the UK and the EU now this makes sense considering that Tick Tock may be sharing sensitive Information about these Western Government devices with the Chinese Government then on the 7th of March Democrat politician Mark Warner and Republican politician John thune Introduced a bill titled quote Restricting the emergence of security Threats that risk information and Communications technology act aka the Restrict act U.S lawmakers do love their Acronyms don't they Now I'll quickly note that the bill is Supposed to be about banning tick tock On that same day White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan issued a Statement applauding the introduction of The restrict Act He highlighted the widespread support The bill has received from politicians Of both political parties put simply There's a high likelihood that it will Become law

As often happens in such cases it took People a couple of weeks to realize that The restrict act has almost nothing to Do with Banning tick tock it seems People started to take notice after tick Tock CEO shoesy Chu testified before U.S Politicians who took advantage of the Opportunity to Shield the restrict act In the days that followed the internet Erupted with outrage over the contents Of the bill dozens of Twitter threads About these details went viral Popular alternative media Publications On both sides of the political Spectrum Published Punchy pieces opposing the Quote insanely broad Provisions not Surprisingly there was almost no Coverage from the mainstream media and Most of the coverage continues to fact Check what's being said about the bill Surprisingly there was quite a bit of Coverage from the crypto media and That's because the restrict act could be Used to ban crypto in the US Many of the crypto headlines about the Bill were about an article published by Coin Center a crypto Think Tank based in Washington DC The article in question is titled quote The restrict act creates blanket Authority with few checks to ban just About anything linked to a foreign Adversary in the article the authors Explained that the restrict Act is

Analogous to a law passed in the 1970s Which prohibits Americans from Transacting with sanctioned entities The difference is that the restrict act Would sanction transactions in which So-called foreign adversaries quote have An interest the act itself specifies That an interest includes quote the Provision of the technology or service This means that Americans could face Fines and jail time for using Cryptocurrencies if any of the mining or Validating is being done by an entity or In a country considered to be an Adversary of the USA now believe it or Not but this barely scratches the Surface of how ridiculous the restrict Act is now before I break down the Restrict act I must give a shout out to Lewis Rossman who did a detailed Breakdown of the bill on his channel and Added some much needed context be sure To check out his channel using the link In the description trust me when I say That it is extremely underrated Now the bill Begins by specifying that All the powers within it will be given To the United States Secretary of Commerce for context the Secretary of Commerce is appointed by whoever happens To be the president at the time This appointment is approved by the Majority of senior U.S politicians next The bill gives some definitions and

There are a couple worth pointing out The first is covered transactions which Means a transaction in which a foreign Adversary has any interest remember that Bit again it's the Secretary of Commerce Who determines which entity is a foreign Adversary The second definition worth pointing out Is critical infrastructure and its Meaning comes from the infamous Patriot Act Lewis explained in his video about The bill that the Patriot Act defines Critical infrastructure in such a way That it can apply to basically anything That the government sees fit The third definition worth pointing out Is foreign adversary because it actually Includes a few examples naturally it Lists China Cuba Iran North Korea and Russia it also includes Venezuela but Only so long as the country is ruled by Nicholas Maduro regime change coming to Venezuela soon Jokes Aside the next section of the bill Deals with quote information and Communication technology products that Pose undue or unacceptable risk Obviously it's once again the Secretary Of Commerce who determines which Information and Technology poses a risk To the National Security of the United States The bill notes one of the risks as being Anything that could quote undermine

Democratic processes and institutions or Steer policy and Regulatory decisions in Favor of the Strategic objectives of a Foreign adversary in other words if you Oppose the U.S government in any way You're in big trouble Now this ties into something that Lewis Noticed in the seventh section of the Bill and that's that lobbyists will be Allowed to advise the Secretary of Commerce as to which products and Services should be labeled foreign Adversaries and banned in the U.S this Would inevitably lead to a monopoly in Every industry Later on in section 11 the bill reveals Exactly what fines and jail time Americans would suffer for interacting In any way with an entity deemed a Foreign adversary or doing anything that Could be labeled a risk to National Security It starts by saying that attempts to Evade these laws are illegal now this is Code for a Crackdown on Virtual private Networks or vpns which is one aspect of The bill that went viral for reference Vpns provide privacy when you browse Websites and they let you access foreign Websites Lewis noted that the US government has Been trying to ban vpns for at least 15 Years then when it comes to the actual Punishments Americans can face up to 250

000 in fines for civil penalties for Criminal penalties the fines can be as Much as one million dollars result in up To 20 years in prison and even result in The government seizing your assets still No mention of banning Tick Tock by the Way But wait there's more in the 12th Section of the bill there's a sentence Which reads quote Actions taken by the secretary under This act shall not be subject to Sections 551-553-559 and 701-707 of title V United States code Lewis looked up these sections in his Video and it means there's no oversight Specifically it will not be possible for Americans to submit Freedom of Information requests to understand why It is that the Secretary of Commerce is Labeling some entities as foreign Adversaries or some activities as high Risk as a cherry on top neither Congress Nor the courts can request information Now these disturbing details are why the Restrict Act is being referred to by Many as the Patriot Act for the internet Or Patriot Act 2.0 for those unfamiliar The Patriot Act was passed in the Aftermath of the 9 11 attacks in 2001. Its Provisions permitted spying on Everyone in the name of fighting Terrorism as some of you will know the

Patriot Act was supposed to be temporary But in 2013 an intelligence consultant Named Edward Snowden blew the whistle on The ongoing surveillance he also Revealed that other governments around The world are engaged in similarly Extensive levels of domestic Surveillance as a fun fact the Patriot Act is apparently the origin of all the Kyc requirements in finance today you'll Know this if you've been keeping up with Our coverage of the financial action Task force or fat f the restrict act Could result in kyc requirements online Hence why Patriot Act 2.0 is an accurate Alias Now I'll remind you that the restrict Act has a good chance of becoming law Last I checked the bill has at least 20 Supporters in the Senate which consists Of 100 senior politicians if it passes The Senate it will head to the house and If passed there it will be signed off by Biden and officially become law it's too Soon to say whether the bill will Survive this circuit but it's already Clear that it's causing a backlash Against all the other bills that are Trying to ban tick tock this was made Apparent when Rand Paul blocked Josh Hawley's bill in order to Fast Track his Own bill to ban Tick Tock note that both Are Republicans In stark contrast to the restrict act

The originally titled no tick tock on United States devices act does actually Ban Tick-Tock more importantly this Second Bill isn't packed with Provisions That give the government more power it's Only four sections long and only Provides specifics Around The Tick Tock Ban itself now unfortunately the video Showing the exchange between Rand and Josh has a lot of comments from Uninformed viewers claiming that the Bill he tried to Fast Track will lead to Government surveillance this isn't the Case at all but the exchange did put the Tick tock ban into perspective Josh's Arguments for Banning Tick Tock Are essentially the same as the ones I Mentioned earlier Tick Tock collects Everything it shares sensitive data with The CCP about journalists and Politicians and this ban has been a long Time coming as a result He also revealed that Tick Tock has been Lobbying against the ban now Ran's Reason for blocking Josh's Tick-Tock ban Was that it sets a dangerous precedent For the U.S government to do the same to Other apps it doesn't like he also Argued that it goes against the First Amendment free speech and that it's Technically illegal to ban Tick-Tock in The U.S because of this Rand then Proclaimed that people have the ability To know what's good and what's bad and

That they have the power to uninstall The app if they feel it's bad for them He said that you should fear your own Government not China's and asked if Internet censorship is more dangerous Than questionable content Josh fired Back by saying that the First Amendment Doesn't protect China's ability to spy On U.S citizens Josh also seemed to Imply that Rand had been paid by tick Tock's lobbyists to block his attempt to Fast Track the ban now I highly doubt This Rand is a Libertarian he is wary of All governments everywhere It sucks that his valid viewpoints could Soon be suppressed by all the internet Censorship laws being rolled out by Governments around the world more about Those in the description now to wrap Things up I want to try and settle the Debate should Tick Tock be banned well To my mind this debate is similar to the Ones about banning or legalizing drugs If you think about it social media Platforms like tiktok are mental drugs Of sorts and they come with their own Unique benefits and risks suppose you Ban this mental drug chances are that People will still find some way to get Their hands on it in this case using Vpns and the like now this is a problem Because you would lose oversight of how This drug is being used attempts to Crack down on vpns also wouldn't go over

Well and would be opposed now suppose You legalize this mental drug chances Are that it will be relentlessly Promoted by the individuals and Institutions that profit from it this is A problem because it would lead to Excess consumption and give rise to the Kind of extreme content that we see on Most social media today This underscores another dimension to The Tick-Tock ban debate Tick Tock isn't The only game in town other social media Platforms such as Instagram have Effectively copied its video flow Banning Tick Tock could therefore result In users gradually switching to Alternatives like Instagram reels and YouTube shorts for instance as such the Toxic algorithms would persist due to The perverse incentive structure that Comes with legalization The only thing you would have addressed Is sharing user data with the Chinese Government instead it would likely be Shared with the US government remember The Patriot Act still exists Now the same outcome would occur if bite Dance was forced to sell Tick-Tock to an American company you would just be Replacing the Chinese government with The US government sensitive data would Still be shared and given how the US Government has been acting lately that Wouldn't be that different in practice

Regarding the algorithm it's true that Giving the US government de facto Control of tick tock through some big Tech company would probably result in Less destructive content suggestions However I don't imagine giving the US Government control of social media Algorithms is a good long-term strategy Either come to think of it the whole Reason why we're having this debate About banning Tick Tock is because of The government on the one hand we have China collecting data and weaponizing The algorithm on the other hand we have The US which will do the same when given The chance assuming it's not already so What's the right answer in this debate Easy get the government out of social Media Rand Paul is right but I'm sure he Knows this will be impossible to do so Long as social media remains centralized That's why the only solution is to Create truly decentralized social media Which can't be controlled in Practical Terms this this means legalizing the Ability to make your own decentralized Mental drugs using cryptocurrency However this kind of legalization will Be easier said than done after all Governments are the biggest dealers of The centralized mental drugs we all use Now and they don't want any competition And that's all for today's video folks If you learned something new let me know

By Smashing that like button if you want To make sure you don't miss the next Video subscribe to the channel and ping That notification Bell and if you feel This content is important feel free to Share it with your friends and family And if you happen to be a crypto bro or CIS check out the coin Bureau deals page For massive discounts and incentives you Just can't miss I've got discounts on Hardware wallets and thousands of Dollars of trading incentives on the top Cryptocurrency exchanges check them out Using the link in the description And with all that said thank you all for Watching and I'll see you next time till Then stay cool stay safe and stay crypto [Music]