Thread by @MatthewFoldi

New from me @TheSpectator:

My Christmas wishlist is fairly simple–I'd love for a ban on @tiktok_us, a Chinese spyware system that's being used by the CCP to spy on Americans

Read on for how I could get my wish!

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(1/xx)

What do Santa Claus and the Chinese Communist Party have in common?

They both see you when you’re sleeping, and they both know when you’re awake — especially if you have communist spyware like @tiktok_us installed on your phone!

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(2/xx)

Whether you’re a teenage girl or a government employee with a top secret clearance, @tiktok_us wants to brainwash you and steal your secrets — maybe even both!

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(3/xx)

While spending all your time on any social media platform can’t be good for your health, TikTok in America is specifically programmed to hook its users, with documented mental health problems plaguing teenage girls.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(4/xx)

A recently viral “blackout challenge” on @tiktok_us literally resulted in kids dying while they strangled each other — or themselves!

Wtf!

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(5/xx)

Meanwhile in China, if you are under fourteen, the TikTok that you use is capped at forty minutes’ usage a day and floods your feed with science and pro-CCP content, which compares the China version to “spinach” and its US version to “opium.”

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(6/xx)

Ironically, despite its warnings, @60Minutes' parent company, @CBSNews, refuses to change its own diet and appears addicted to TikTok with its own very active account.

cbsnews.com/news/tristan-h…

(7/xx)

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is governed by a Chinese law that requires it to share its user data with the party on demand.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(8/xx)

In spite of this obvious national security concern, Biden administration alumni, including @JTOBrown–an alum of the Pentagon–are aiding in TikTok’s US lobbying efforts, as @KarlSalzmann reported @FreeBeacon.

freebeacon.com/latest-news/ti…

(9/xx)

As you can see here, former deputy *Pentagon* spox @JTOBrown is hyping @tiktok_us, even though the app is banned by his former boss in the White House!

https://twitter.com/JTOBrown/status/1602309033070845953

(10/xx)

An explosive BuzzFeed report from @ebakerwhite shows that @tiktok_us is less like Santa and more like Krampus: the mythical Alpine counterpart to Jolly St. Nick who would kidnap naughty children and take them to his lair.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emilyb…

(11/xx)

Now, the latest @ebakerwhite reporting shows how China uses its @tiktok_us spyware to push divisive content to its American audiences right before the 2022 midterms

forbes.com/sites/emilybak…

(12/xx)

Leaked audio from ByteDance shows how no user data is safe, per @ebakerwhite's reporting. “Everything is seen in China,” a member of @tiktok_us's Trust and Safety department said.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emilyb…

(13/xx)

Again, just like @CBSNews, @BuzzFeed maintains an active @tiktok_us account of its own despite the warnings posed by @ebakerwhite's reporting.

buzzfeednews.com/article/emilyb…

(14/xx)

These compound a @Forbes report: “If TikTok is active on your phone while you work, the app can basically read anything and everything you copy on another device: passwords, work documents, sensitive emails, financial information. Anything.”

forbes.com/sites/zakdoffm…

(15/xx)

A privacy researcher further reported that TikTok’s in-app browser even captures users’ credit card information. “TikTok iOS subscribes to every tap on any button, link, image or other component on websites rendered inside the TikTok app.”

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(16/xx)

With over 100 million users in America, many of whom are teenagers, the TikTok challenge will only grow. It was the internet’s most-visited site in 2021, overtaking Google — and it’s showing no signs of stopping as we close out 2022.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(17/xx)

The clock needs to run out on TikTok. But what can be done? Donald Trump came close to banning TikTok — but much like @TomBrady with three seconds to play, TikTok came back with a vengeance.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(18/xx)

Joe Biden even invited a slew of TikTok influencers to the White House, despite his administration banning his staff from using it on their government-issued phones!

Not great

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(19/xx)

Biden’s allies on the outside, who run the pro-Biden nonprofit Building Back Together, have also launched a TikTok account, further complicating any push by the president to ban it.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(20/xx)

The only realistic solution is to keeping pushing for a full ban. China hawks like Federal Communications commissioner @BrendanCarrFCC are taking the lead.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(21/xx)

The FCC's @BrendanCarrFCC says it’s impossible for there to be “a world in which you could come up with sufficient protection on the data that you could have sufficient confidence that it’s not finding its way back into the hands of the CCP.”

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(22/xx)

But teenagers are not going to listen to the FCC — so it’s heartening to see @GOPGovs from across the country taking concrete steps to undermine the platform.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(23/xx)

#NEGOV (and likely future #NESEN) @GovRicketts was an early leader in banning state employees from having TikTok on their phones, banning them from using it back in 2020.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(24/xx)

In recent days, #NEGOV @GovRicketts has been joined by his fellow @GOVGovs, including #MDGOV @GovLarryHogan, #SDGOV @govkristinoem, #TXGOV @GovAbbott, and #SCGOV @henrymcmaster, who all recently banned state employees from using @tiktok_us.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(25/xx)

In announcing his ban, #MDGOV @LarryHogan made it clear that state employees using TikTok is a national security threat. “No greater threat to our personal safety and our national security than the cyber vulnerabilities [of] our daily lives.”

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(26/xx)

Even Democrats are acknowledging that TikTok is a problem — and that Donald Trump was right to try and ban it! #VASEN @MarkWarner said so last month!

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(27/xx)

@MarkWarner "This is not something you would normally hear me say, but Donald Trump was right on TikTok years ago...If your kids are on TikTok…the ability for China to have undue influence..,and a much more immediate threat than any...armed conflict.”

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(28/xx)

Let’s be honest: TikTok is successful for a reason. When its algorithm isn’t promoting eating disorders to teenage girls, it’s providing users with an endless stream of addictive content to keep them hooked.

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(29/xx)

So, if we actually ban TikTok, where would all the influencers go? Well, in a first, an American company plagiarized from Chinese communists: Instagram has Reels, which is the same and content won’t get fed to the CCP. Sounds like a win-win!

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(30/xx)

Anyway, subscribe @TheSpectator and help me get my Christmas wish of a @tiktok_us ban

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(31/xx)

Reminder that not only is #VASEN @MarkWarner pro-banning @tiktok_us, he even admitted that Donald Trump was right to push for a ban!

This is a huge bipartisan issue as I covered @TheSpectator

spectatorworld.com/topic/want-chr…

(32/xx)

https://twitter.com/MatthewFoldi/status/1602397867901128716

As @nickineily points out here, this is yet another way that communist spyware app @tiktok_us is gaining access to sensitive data of America’s kids

(33/xx)

https://twitter.com/nickineily/status/1603826781626269697

The Biden *campaign* is planning on harvesting its supporters data using @tiktok_us, a Chinese spyware app, that the Biden *White House* has banned from its property

So if you’re a Biden campaign supporter, Xi Jinping has access to your browser history and credit card

(34/xx)

https://twitter.com/michaelscherer/status/1604480745266970628

TikTok’s parent company spies on journalists who are critical of the company

thespectator.com/topic/want-chr…

(35/xx)

https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1605999911517835264

The Chinese Communist Party controls ByteDance, and ByteDance runs @tiktok_us

Here’s even more evidence that they spy on journalists who look into them

(36/xx)

https://twitter.com/ebakerwhite/status/1606016816588894208