House passes TikTok ban in four days, but still has to hold China responsible for COVID for four years

Conservative voices on social media have approached the topic of banning TikTok with extreme caution, noting that Congress appears determined to regulate a Chinese-controlled social media app but has done little to intervene as the foreign adversary buys up American farmland or a pandemic.

For a body that is often known to move slowly to accomplish even the smallest of achievements, Congress acted fairly quickly in pushing for the TikTok ban.

On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously voted in favor of a bill that could lead to TikTok being blocked in the United States before the full House.

On Tuesday, the full House had voted in a bipartisan manner, by a vote of 352 to 65, to pass the bill.

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TikTok bans hasty moving – ask yourself why?

While the debate rages on whether to ban TikTok after years of chatter and discourse, this is a remarkably quick move considering other China-related issues that have yet to be addressed.

One must wonder why there is a sense of urgency in this issue in particular. Conservative social media personalities have openly questioned that.

One of the most popular reports on X, Catturd, pointed out the many things Congress has actually done regarding China Nothing about.

“China has unleashed a virus on the world – Congress is doing nothing,” they write. “China controls more than 90% of pharmaceutical drugs – Congress does nothing. Everything you buy in the United States says ‘made in China’ – Congress does nothing.”

“Ask yourself: Why does Congress, which has let China walk all over us for years, suddenly want to do something, but only on a social media app?”

It should be noted that the Chinese government’s COVID-19 Accountability Act was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 26, 2020. That’s how it was introduced again on January 31, 2023.

The bill was put forward by Representative Gregory Steube (R-FL). It aims to “request reimbursement from the People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the United States government to address the coronavirus disease.”

It was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and had only eleven co-sponsors in its 2020 form. And in 2023, it was referred to that committee again, but now has zero co-sponsors.

It hasn’t gone anywhere.

And yet TikTok. Moved to ban. Less than 4 business days later.

RELATED: AOC Uses Tik-Tok With Chinese Ties to Celebrate Tucker Carlson’s Firing, Censorship: ‘De-platforming Works’

What is it really about?

There are certainly numerous legitimate concerns regarding TikTok and their Chinese Communist Party (CCP) associations.

Lawmakers from both parties have stated that Chinese tech company ByteDance’s alleged ownership of TikTok (which appears to be in dispute) opens its millions of American users to data collection by the CCP.

But this is the same Congress that has repeatedly allowed – and many demanded – virtually unlimited unconstitutional spying on the American people by the Alphabet Agencies. So again, they do Real fancy espionage? Obviously not.

Furthermore, it should raise warning signs that both Democrats and Republicans agree with the TikTok ban. Usually such a coalition means that they are not on the side of the Americans, but have an ulterior motive. See for example Ukraine.

Do conservatives really agree with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer?

Are we willing to give up more freedom?

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard suggests the swift effort to ban TikTok is more about controlling the flow of information. She also warns that it could open a Pandora’s box.

“The TikTok ban is not about TikTok. Do not be fooled. “It’s about politicians having the power to decide what thoughts, ideas and information Americans can hear and see,” she said on X.

“Will we, the American people, willingly give up our freedom in the name of security?”

We got a sneak peek at lawmakers and social media working together to control the flow of information in 2020. Reasonable views on COVID were labeled “conspiracy theories” and suppressed.

China couldn’t have been happier seeing all this.

Comedian Larry “The Cable Guy” also joined in, noting that the U.S. government, which likes to spy on its own people, is apparently dismayed by the competition.

“Today the House voted to force TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the company because they don’t want them spying on our children,” he said. ‘They want one us take over companies so that an American company can spy us children.”

The problem, as always, is the slippery slope that the government likes to slide down. If they can ban TikTok due to questionable ties to third-party entities, could Elon Musk’s X also suffer the same fate?

How long do you think it will take for Democrats to find a connection between Elon Musk and a booster in another country?

Will those bans come right after it?

The vote to ban TikTok now heads to the Senate, where the prospects are less clear.

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