The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has deleted a tweet suggesting that the proposed TikTok ban should not precede gun reform. The tweet, which read, “A TikTok ban before gun control is wild,” was roundly ridiculed by both sides of the gun control debate, primarily by people arguing that President Biden has signed legislative reforms on gun control. One person responded to the NAACP tweet saying, “Tweeting before Googling is wild.”
An apparently left-wing voter replied, stating that people are drifting toward Donald Trump, including black people, because of irresponsible and inaccurate comments from individuals and groups on the political left. Others said the bill, passed through Congress in April, is not strictly a TikTok ban but a proposal that forces its owner, Bytedance, to sell the application.
The company said it will sue the federal government over what it calls an unconstitutional proposal. The legislation, passed with bipartisan support, obliges Bytedance to sell TikTok to remove the Chinese government’s influence and prevent it from gaining access to the personal data of more than 170 million American users.
Bytedance insists that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has no power in the company, but internal laws in China permit the CCP to request information or data from any Chinese firm.
Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, called for the TikTok legislation, saying the application is a national security threat because of the Chinese government’s access to data. Others argue it is harming young people’s mental health.
Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy has spoken out about the issue and said he will back Bytedance and file his own lawsuit against the legislation. Kennedy said the government’s argument that TikTok is a national security threat is a “smokescreen,” and another unspoken agenda is at play. He said the proposed ban is “another example” of how Democrats and Republicans are happy to sacrifice American freedoms to serve their own political interests.
