In a recent post, former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy expressed concerns about the potential expansion of federal power if TikTok goes ahead with divestiture plans, suggesting an alternative legislative approach.
What Happened: Ramaswamy voiced his opinion on the ongoing debate around TikTok’s future in the U.S. Ramaswamy cautioned that even after TikTok’s divestiture, there is a possibility that the platform “continues to work *exactly* as it does today” while the government gains broader punitive powers.
He proposed that the Senate should draft a bill to prevent any tech company from sharing U.S. user data with any government and to mandate public disclosure of government requests to moderate content. He argued that this approach would be more effective than the current bill under consideration.
Ramaswamy’s post was in response to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who expressed openness to legislation aimed at preventing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from using TikTok to gather data but criticized the current bill for seeking special powers under the guise of an emergency.
Why It Matters: The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that could force the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owners, ByteDance, or lead to a ban in the U.S. This legislation now heads to the Senate, where it faces scrutiny and potential amendments.
The bill’s passage could impact approximately 150 million American users and has already caused unrest among TikTok influencers, who have been actively lobbying Congress against the ban. The influencers argue that the app is a significant platform for creativity and expression and are fighting to prevent its potential ban.
Engineered by Benzinga Neuro, Edited by Pooja Rajkumari
The GPT-4-based Benzinga Neuro content generation system exploits the extensive Benzinga Ecosystem, including native data, APIs, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. Learn more.
Photo by Consolidated News Photos on Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.