Every day, billions of people rely on social media for news updates or simply, to stay in touch with loved ones.
As a result, people all over the globe use social media apps like X and TikTok more than ever before.
And Nancy Pelosi is grinning ear to ear after lawmakers join this fight.
British lawmakers have set their sights on TikTok and other social media platforms
More people than ever before rely on social media for their daily media consumption.
Young people, in particular, widely use TikTok, which presents content in the form of short videos.
However, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have alleged that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, shares significant amounts of user data with the communist Chinese government.
As a result, American lawmakers have taken significant steps to limit and perhaps even ban TikTok in the United States.
For example, the United States House of Representatives approved a measure that could ban TikTok by a vote of 352-65, with prominent lawmakers such as Nancy Pelosi voicing their support for the measure.
This anti-TikTok fever has spread across the entire Western world, with some British lawmakers sharing their desire to regulate TikTok.
Rather than ban TikTok altogether, the UK government’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee – which consists of 11 Members of Parliament from both sides of the political aisle – expressed a desire to curb “misinformation” on popular social media apps such as TikTok.
On Friday, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee released a report, which, according to its website, recommends that “the Government publishes advice for departments and public bodies on how to communicate with young people using new apps and platforms, including consistent advice on TikTok, and to come up with a plan for improving GOV.UK, with some users, lost and overwhelmed by the website.”
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee, also issued a statement on this matter, saying, “With the spread of misinformation on social media remaining a very real problem, it’s more important than ever that communities across the country have access to accurate and authoritative information that it is communicated in an open and relatable way.”
The statement added, “There are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic where scientists played a critical role in communications. The Government is missing a trick in not giving them a larger public role in the battle to counter misinformation.”
Although these efforts to limit the use of TikTok have gained support from lawmakers from both political sides, many have warned against limiting or banning TikTok and other social media apps.
Among these detractors is Senator Rand Paul, who said in March, “TikTok is banned in China, We’re thinking – or people who want to ban it are thinking – Wow, we’re going to really defeat the Chinese communists, by becoming Chinese authoritarians and banning it in our country? TikTok is banned in China. So, we’re going to emulate the Chinese communists by banning it in our country? It makes no sense whatsoever.”
Lawmakers have proved that they will go to extreme lengths to curb the free flow of speech
Whether it is in America or the United Kingdom, lawmakers from both sides have proven that they are willing to exhaust significant resources to limit the use of social media.
These limitations have fallen under the guise of “misinformation prevention” or “standing up to China;” however, many users of TikTok and other apps fear these are excuses to silence them.
As these efforts gain steam, policy experts agree that the extent to which the government can limit social media usage could become a major legal and political flash point across the Western world.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
