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Comment by downWidOutaFite | Hacker News Reader

Political momentum keeps building for banning it in the USA as well. It's driven by both Chinese (too much control) and Israeli (not enough control) propaganda concerns.

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What would the overlap be between senior citizens in Congress pushing a bill and TikTok's audience?

Does it matter? If the ban is established, the US TikTok audience essentially goes to 0.

A ban has been attempted since at least 2020, and has gone nowhere. There is no precedent for something like this, as Congress cannot show what law Tiktok has violated. It would need to go to the Supreme Court, even if both houses passed the bill.

Congress puts forward many bills that have no shot at passing. The goal of something like this is to force Bytedance to sell its US operation to a US company, rather than deal with regulatory uncertainty. Hasn't worked yet.

When has a ban ever been attempted? It's been threatened, but that's a far cry from attempting it.

Montana has a ban on Tiktok (currently under appeal).

Texas bans Tiktok on government wifi and wired networks.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/17/tiktok-ban-m...

Well, now you've moved the goal posts. What a government says its employees can/cannot do is not the same thing as what the citizens can/cannot do. I see that no different than any employer not allowing apps on company devices, or even having the corp network block any/all social media.

I don't know what the difference is between a threat and an attempt but just yesterday a U.S. House panel unanimously approved a bill that could ban it. Today Biden said he'd sign the bill it if it passes.

> I don't know what the difference is between a threat and an attempt

Is this a real statement? As in, ESL possibly?

Someone blustering/threatening to do something is just a bunch of hot air. Enacting legislation and putting into action so that it becomes illegal would be attempting it.

It would only be an attempt, as we've seen how well banning through legislation works with things like Prohibition, War on Drugs, etc. Are they going to force all US ISPs to block it? Are they going to ban it from the stores? Are they going to prevent US users from accessing VPNs from outside US territories? Let's face it, people are addicted to TikTok, and they will find a way to get their fix.

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