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Updated: May 23, 2023 @ 6:31 am
At this point, nearly everyone has heard of the proposed nationwide TikTok ban.
It has raised countless headlines, including here at the University of Montana, after multiple U.S. Congress members identified the foreign-owned social media app as a national security risk.
However, Congress’ current response is ironically an even more egregious challenge to American privacy: the RESTRICT Act.
Proposed by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, the RESTRICT Act would empower the government to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit and mitigate” any communication services that an enemy country could tap into. According to the bill’s text, that includes China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
It’s separate from the TikTok ban. The Montana Senate has already moved forward with a statewide TikTok ban, which is pending in the House. State devices and networks like the University of Montana have already banned TikTok on its Wi-Fi servers.
In response, TikTok is running a statewide advertising campaign arguing small businesses deserve the platform TikTok provides. The Kaimin is currently running an ad related to this campaign.
However, the RESTRICT Act serves as a blanket bill for future social media apps. Even if the TikTok ban fails, the RESTRICT Act would give the U.S. government the power to executively ban TikTok, along with most other apps.
They argue that TikTok could transmit the information of more than 150 million American users to its Chinese parent company, revealing potential secrets about American projects, or just giving more insight into American society than leaders feel comfortable with.
The fear is not baseless. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, disclosed in December that it had accessed data of at least four journalists and people connected to them while looking for the source of company information leaks. This, combined with China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires Chinese organizations to hand over information at the government’s will, points a clear picture of where TikTok’s data on Americans could be going.
In many ways, the RESTRICT Act is an echo of Montana’s TikTok ban, but the devil is in the details; under this bill’s text, the U.S. government would have legal grounds to access, restrict or ban any communications channel with more than one million users without prior notice.
This includes texts, emails, social media and possibly even video doorbells. Attempting to access banned information could land you 20 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines.
The bill has received support and objections on both sides of the aisle. Republican Sen. Rand Paul protested the bill on grounds of free speech, and others have accused it of opening the door to spying on American citizens.
The Kaimin believes the RESTRICT Act goes too far. Maintaining national security is something to be prioritized, but if it comes at the cost of committing the same crime American politicians fear their enemies doing — spying on citizens — then perhaps the solution needs reevaluation.
And to Montana lawmakers in favor of the statewide TikTok ban, we ask they reflect on the public’s reaction the RESTRICT Act has received.
Like it? Hate it? Let us know.
Email us your opinions at griffen.smith@umontana.edu
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Noise Complaint is a rotating experimental music project that plays every Friday in downtown Missoula at the “XXXX’s.” Members of the project wanted to stress that they are not a cult, but rather a 501(c)(3) religious organization.