#Banned by congress

[thisisabernieblog]

Funny how this isn't called a war crime in the Western media, but you can just imagine the hypocrisy of Russia was doing it...

[reasonsforhope]

THANK FUCKING GOD

"The Supreme Court on Thursday [June 13, 2024] unanimously preserved access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

The nine justices ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and the FDA’s subsequent actions to ease access to it. The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone across the country, including in states where abortion remains legal.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was part of the majority to overturn Roe, wrote for the court on Thursday that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”

The opinion underscored the stakes of the 2024 election and the possibility that an FDA commissioner appointed by Republican Donald Trump, if he wins the White House, could consider tightening access to mifepristone, including prohibiting sending it through the mail...

Kavanaugh’s opinion managed to unite a court deeply divided over abortion and many other divisive social issues by employing a minimalist approach that focused solely on the technical legal issue of standing and reached no judgment about the FDA’s actions...

While praising the decision, President Joe Biden signaled Democrats will continue to campaign heavily on abortion ahead of the November elections. “It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,” Biden said in a statement...

About two-thirds of U.S. adults oppose banning the use of mifepristone, or medication abortion, nationwide, according to a KFF poll conducted in February. About one-third would support a nationwide ban...

More than 6 million people [in the U.S.] have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of a second drug, misoprostol. The two-drug regimen has been used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks gestation...

Biden’s administration and drug manufacturers had warned that siding with abortion opponents in this case could [have] undermined the FDA’s drug approval process beyond the abortion context by inviting judges to second-guess the agency’s scientific judgments. The Democratic administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, argued that the drug is among the safest the FDA has ever approved."

-via AP, June 13, 2024

--

Note: A massive relief and a genuine victory - this will preserve access to the medication used in 2/3rds of abortions last year, for at least another 2 years. (Probably minimum time it will take Republicans to get their next attempt before the Supreme Court.)

Still, with this, a sword that has been hanging over our heads for the last two years is gone. There will be a new one soon, but we just bought ourselves probably at least 2 years. The fight isn't over, but this is absolutely worth celebrating.

[gallifreyriver]

Reminder that Zuckerberg actively lobbied with Republican PR firms to make TikTok illegal because he couldn't compete with it.

Reminder that for all its faults TikTok has brought tons of awareness to important issues that barely got any coverage until they blew up on TikTok, and more that still barely got any mainstream coverage even after they did.

Reminder that TikTok has become the largest and easiest place for people to come together and organize, and has 150 million active users in the US.

Reminder that congress, especially conservatives, stand to gain a lot by banning it, because it means less people will hear about all the problematic (fascist) shit they're trying to pass, such as the 300+ anti-trans bills, the bills seeking to make abortion a felony punishable by death, or how they're trying to remove the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). They also get to 'look tough' against China.

Reminder that claims of concerns over data privacy are bullshit, because China could literally just buy our data if they wanted it. Tech companies just like and including Facebook collect and sell our data all the time. China wouldn't need to build an app to get it.

Reminder that banning TikTok sets a precedent that Congress could come for literally any other social media they deem 'a threat' and ban that too. Yes, even your personal favorite one.

Reminder that we should care about this and instead of saying "Good Riddance TikTok!" we should be actively trying to stop this violation of free speech and stop handing more power to fascists just because we personally don't like a thing or think it's cringe. This is bigger than your personal tastes.

Please sign this letter from the ACLU to your members of Congress and urge them to listen. There's also a hearing this Thursday on March 23rd at 10am EST in DC where the TikTok CEO will be testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing will be open to the public and will also be live streamed online.

I don't care if you hate TikTok or think it's "cringe." If you all actually hate Facebook and fascists as much as you say you do, then you won't stand for letting them win this fight to ban it.

[lady-raziel]

alright I’m gonna say it I can excuse a lot in fanfiction but people who write straight abo fics and make the man the alpha and the woman the omega are literally just wrong like you didn’t need abo to write that fic that way please appropriate a different kink genre for that shit

[bonesashesglass]

Welp Senate officially passed the bill to ban TikTok.

I know a lot of people on this app hate TikTok, and believe me I get where that is coming from, but this is a huge violation of the first amendment and has horrifying implications for free speech.

It’s also very telling that they’re doing this right now. TikTok is one of the biggest ways that people in Palestine have to show the rest of the world what is happening. The government wants to take away this access and information.

It’s also one of the fastest ways people all around the world spread information. This is what a modern day book burning looks like.

The bill is going in front of the president tomorrow. He has the power to veto it, so write and call as soon as your can:

The number for the White House is:

202 456-1111

[passer-domesticus-official]

Now that the TikTok ban has been signed into law, I felt obligated to give my two cents.

This is nothing less than a crystal clear infringement on our right to free speech. Through TikTok, the flaws within the American government have been revealed to millions of young people across the country, especially after October 7th. When you have a large group of people, especially a group as influential as the next generation, all collectively speaking out against an inherently corrupt institution, the first thing that institution would need to do to preserve itself is take away the platform on which that group speaks, and that is exactly what this ban will do. The US government is cracking down on tiktok not just because it wants to silence the youth of America, but because it needs to in order to preserve its authority.

But why does this ban apply to tiktok specifically??? If they want to silence opposition, why not get rid of social media as a whole???

Here’s the thing, they don’t even need to do that. X and Meta are run by corporate billionaires, both of which are on the same side as the US government and have already been censoring their platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and X are already on their side in this, so why ban them when you can focus on the outlier? The foreign run company that isn’t a slave to the federal government? And that’s exactly what they’re doing. They’re banning TikTok because we have nowhere else to run.

Additionally, the vast majority of Americans were against this bill, and yet it still made it through congress, and got signed by the president. There is nothing that could show us that the federal government’s interests have moved beyond those of the people’s more clearly than this. They do not care. Our senators , our representatives, our president, none of them care about the people anymore, and so long as this system of government exists, they never will, which is why nothing in America, nothing in the world will change unless we can put aside the imaginary differences we’ve set up for ourselves and come together against the collective enemy of the capitalist system.

[mochimellowd]

Johnny Silverhand didn't give us long speeches for this

[eddo-tensei]

STOP THE RESTRICT ACT/TIKTOK BAN BILL

I don't normally post about this stuff, but I feel like this needs to be said or else, everything we know could be utterly eradicated in the name of "security".

For anyone in the know, you're probably aware that the US Government had been trying to either restrict or even ban TikTok. Well, they've crafted a full bill for it and...well...it's even worse than anyone could imagine.

Bill S. 686, otherwise known as the RESTRICT Act, essentially enables the government to look into anything that could access the internet and I do mean ANYTHING. Computers, phones, TVs, tablets, video game consoles, appliances, modems, even things like your Ring light.

More shockingly, it could also criminalize the use of VPNs and if you're caught doing that or breaking any part of the bill, you could have your property seized, be fined for $1M, and even face jail time for up to 20 YEARS. And this could be used for anything, not just TikTok. If the government sees it fit to block any foreign platform, they will not only make it happen, but they could punish anyone who dares to access these sites no matter the reason.

This bill has only just been introduced in the Senate, but there's no point in waiting. For anyone who needs to know what to do, it's a given that you should call up your senators and representatives. However, I feel like we need to take more urgent action. Currently, the bill has been referred to the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Here's the list of all the committee members. Please call them or email them. For the sake of it, I'll give everyone a script of sorts to base your statements on.

"Hello [Name of Senator/Representative/Committee member you're calling here],

My name is [Your name]. I am a constituent of the US and I am calling to tell you that you need to oppose Bill S. 686 AKA the RESTRICT Act for it does not sufficiently address the problem it was written for, being the issues with TikTok, and is instead written in a way that could irreparably damage our right to privacy and freedom of expression online.

The government should not be given unfettered access to everyone's devices to ensure the ban of an app. There are other safer ways for Congress to address the privacy issues with TikTok and other apps like it that should be considered.

In any case, if you wish to keep my support for you as a politician, I implore you to reconsider the bill in its current form for it could violate not only my First Amendment rights, but also my Fourth Amendment rights. It is extremely unreasonable for the government to look through everyone's devices just to block an app and people should not be subjected to mass surveillance of this scale. I understand that you wish to keep your citizens safe, but please consider other options.

Do NOT support the RESTRICT Act. Please value the privacy and freedom of your citizens by voting NO on Bill S. 686."

[kirain]

This is truly mesmerising.

"Mr. Chew, if I plug my toaster into the wall, will it have access to my electricity?"

"Mr. Chew, what's your opinion on the laws of thermodynamics and do they prove God doesn't exist?"

"Mr. Chew, would it be a stretch for this congress to assume that you support eugenics?"

"Mr. Chew, if mankind develops the technology to travel to and colonize Mars by 2030, will you personally finance a twenty-team crew to fly to the planet and access the wifi there, and will you sell that data to China?"

"Mr. Chew, if I accidentally leave my phone at home while I'm at work, will your app sleep with my wife?"

[lizajane2]

So I decided to listen in on the congressional hearing for banning TikTok, like an idiot, and here's the thing Shou is not responsible for the social media that kids consume, THAT is on the parents. This is so stupid...

Also China has its hands in everything that we use. Now everyone in congress is losing their fucking mind? They keep talking about how data has been sold, how it's there, well if you have the evidence show it, stop stating it.

And if they think for one second that TikTok is bad and heavily influences children, what about Facebook? Instagram? Hell fucking Twitter, that place is awful. And last but not least here on Tumblr? If you're not fucking careful you can end up on the wrong side of it.

This isn't about our safety. It's about the fact that our government has no affiliation with TikTok and they can't control it.

[good-old-gossip]

ISRAEL'S IMAGE & TIKTOK BAN

[azure-arsonist]

If congress bans tiktok and everyone on tiktok comes to tumblr what do you think would happen to our ecosystems

[gallifreyriver]

Update to this post because a year later they're still trying it.

They vote again tomorrow, March 13th, to try and ban TikTok- only this time they're doing all they can to claim it's not a TikTik ban.

They claim it's to "protect Americans from 'Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications'" despite singling out ByteDance/TikTok specifically, and mentioning TikTok in literally the first sentence.

They also claim it's not a "ban," they're just giving TikTok the "opportunity" to divest from ByteDance and sell it's company, algorithms and source code to a non-communist county (the US) within 180 days or the US will take action and make the app inaccessible to USA Americans, which make up 150 million of TikTok's user base, the largest TikTok audience by country so far.

One could call this a shakedown, that effectively the US is trying to steal a popular and profitable company. "That's a nice company you got there, be a shame if you... I don't know... lost 150 million users- Wouldn't it?"

[Edit: Forgot to add that even though the US has 150 million TikTok users, that's still only like 8%-ish of TikTiks total userbase- making this "shakedown" an example of how Congress is embarrassingly USA-centric. TikTok will not sell just to avoid losing just 7%-8% of it's userbase, and Congress must know that- if not, that just proves the point even more. This bill is for all intents and purposes a BAN, regardless how they try to spin it, and they're being very USA-centric and Xenophobic about it]

Anyway-

This is the second vote. A House committee voted unanimously on Mar. 7th to advance the bill, and it will be voted on again by a Republican controlled House.

Please call or email your representatives and tell them to vote "No" on bill H.R. 7521.

This isn't about just losing an app. TikTok is unique in that it is currently the easiest place to organize and spread information that otherwise doesn't get as much coverage. It allows for real time coverage and updates by those living through major events going on around the word, and has allowed for increased awareness for such events that we likely wouldn't hear about otherwise. (i.e: the genocide in Palestine, Cop City, any of the bills trying to take trans rights/abortion rights away, etc)

If you don't know your representatives, just google "who are my representatives" and the first results should be links that will help you find them based on your zip code

And if you don't know what to write I can help you there too.

You can write something as simple as just:

Vote "No" on bill H.R. 7521.

Seriously, that's all you need.

Or, if you want something a little more in depth, here's a script that you can either copy and paste or reword to your liking. I just re-worded the script from the ACLU link above to fit more specifically about the current bill (Though let's be honest, for all intents and purposes Congress is pulling the same shit in a different hat)

Dear Representative, I’m writing today to strongly urge you to protect our constitutional rights to free expression and to receive information, and to vote no on any bill that would give the federal government the power to ban entire social media platforms. Bill H.R. 7521 is designed to allow the government to ban TikTok in the US and would likely result in bans of other businesses and applications as well. Given what we know about TikTok, it’s clear that a ban would violate the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans who use the app to communicate and express themselves daily. Should these bills move to a vote, I urge you to vote “No.” In a purported attempt to protect the data of US persons from the Chinese government, these bills will instead block Americans from engaging in political discussions, artistic expression, and the free exchange of ideas. We have a First Amendment right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world. Please oppose any bill designed to limit our right to express ourselves — both online and off. Thank you.

Reminder, they vote tomorrow, Wednesday March 13th.

So please reblog this to spread the word and contact your representatives to tell them to vote "No" on this bill.

Do not be mistaken in thinking your opinion doesn't matter- it does matter so much. Do not let yourself be silenced!

[imnotawitch]

The Restrict Act is so much more than a “TikTok Ban”

Read the bill for yourself here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/686/text

[reynita9]

I can’t stop thinking about how Cocomelon is damaging babies because the fast pace scene changes can “interfere with the development of executive functions”, and how thin parents are spread in capitalism that they rely on television to entertain/keep their babies company just so they have some time to complete domestic tasks. I am thinking about disintegrated Community Care/structure. I am thinking about how Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, Tumblr, all media are engineered to be addictive and alter the executive functioning of kids, tweens, teens, and adults of all ages. How malleable our minds are..bread and circuses. Everything we consume has the power to heal or destroy us. I think about Congress Bill 686, and feel discouraged and powerless. You may have heard of it as “The TikTok Ban” of course, the media intentionally oversimplifies it as a ban on TikTok, but really it is the means for The State to restrict the sharing of information on the internet and to censor us, keep us misinformed and suppressed. The State knows that knowledge is power so they keep us intentionally in the dark and distracted, plucking away human rights one by one while we are watching the stage. The Restrict Act would require the Department of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, and mitigate transactions involving ICT products and services” 🤳🏼👁️ (ICT means Information and Communications Technology, ICT Products and services refers to social media) When COVID first hit, my friend said “this will be like 9/11, there was the world pre 9/11 and post 9/11” I am not one to believe we are “post-covid” because we are still in the grips of the Covidian information wars, which I feel will be one of the main long term take aways from The-Covid-Years. Bill 686 harms all, because any group of 1 million people organizing or sharing information online can be persecuted, banned and shut down under the guise of “prohibiting certain transactions between persons of the United States and foreign adversaries” Congress Bill 686 establishes both civil and criminal penalties for violations of the bill, meaning anything that they consider an “unacceptable risk to national security.” Please don’t forget we live in a police state which is meant to protect the empire. In The United States privacy is not sacrosanct, and actually American big brother corporations like Meta and Google are investing millions into anti-TikTok propaganda, because it clears their competition and allows them back into the palms of citizens, so they can personally be the ones to steal our time and data. It makes me angry, it’s painful. How can we organize against the faceless enemy? It’s all subversion and censorship, anything to get the undiluted power to be placed back into the hands of an American corporation. It will always be The State, Corporations, and Colleges keeping information tucked away and inaccessible to the masses. We must do what we can to preserve the internet as a place of free information sharing and connection. The infrastructure of our communities in real life are generally weak. Weekly I hit a paywall online, and I have seen my own words be instantaneously given an AI generated COVID misinformation banner before. It’s insane, and most people are not comfortable admitting out loud that we are alive during fascism. What’s funny in a way is, I have long hated TikTok, but now that it risks being banned in this “land of the free” I find myself urgently realizing how important it is to preserve and protect.. It is on the individual to use the internet wisely and with boundaries, not the state to restrict people’s access to information. Privacy is important and data-preservation is important, obviously, but if this is what 686 was truly about, we would be having different conversations. All legislation is created to build a precedent.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Maya Yang at The Guardian:

The House of Representatives voted 360 to 58 on the updated divest-or-ban bill that could lead to the first time ever that the US government has passed a law to shut down an entire social media platform.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week and Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation.

“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok. This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones,” said Texas Republican representative Michael McCaul, author of the bill, Bloomberg reports. The updated TikTok bill comes as part of House Republican speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The passage of the updated version of the bill came after Maria Cantwell, the Senate commerce committee chair, urged the House in March to revise the bill’s details, which now extends TikTok’s parent company ByteDance’s divestment period from six months to a year. In a statement released on Tuesday, Cantwell said: “As I’ve said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done. I support this updated legislation.” Critics of the popular social media app argue that ByteDance, which is based in China, could collect user data and censor content that is critical of the Chinese government. In March, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, warned in a House intelligence committee hearing that China could use TikTok to influence the US’s 2024 presidential elections.

What a disgrace: The US House passes 360-58 a bill to ban TikTok if there is no divesture within 9 months (extendable by the President to a year) from ByteDance. This bill likely will head to the Senate next and then President Biden's desk. #TikTokBan