TikTok's Return: A Government Plot or a False Hope? The Oligarchy's War on Free Speech - TikTok, Trump, and What’s Really Going On
Is TikTok's Return Just a Distraction? From TikTok Ban to Censorship: The Rise of Digital Authoritarianism in America & How the US Government’s War on TikTok is Just the Beginning
Just days into Trump's second presidency, and it has already been one heck of a week (and it's only Wednesday).
I wrote about the TikTok ban and other current events on Monday morning. However, this story is constantly evolving. Monday's update can be found HERE.
To recap, we've been through (a lot) this week:
Saturday Night: TikTok voluntarily shut down early, even though the Biden administration had said they "wouldn't enforce" the TikTok ban before leaving office. When this happened, TikTok notified all users that they were "working with President Donald Trump" (who wasn't even the president yet) to find a solution to bring TikTok back as soon as possible.
Sunday: After about 12 hours of pro-Trump propaganda (a message praising Trump for working on a solution for the outage while it was down), TikTok returned for US users (with some features limited), and messages praising "President Donald Trump" (who STILL wasn't the president yet) for making the return possible (just in time for the inauguration), despite his role in kicking off the ban years earlier.
Monday: Inauguration, Elon's "big salute," and a slew of horrific "Executive Actions" (including a proclamation that our country officially only recognizes two genders which are assigned at birth from now on), ordering all federal agencies to close any and all “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” offices by close of business Wednesday, and more that are still coming.
Additionally, one mandate demands federal agencies provide the Director of the OMB with a list of all federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials to agency or department employees; and federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.
NOTE: Earlier in the week (and last night when I was reviewing the presidential actions in bed because I couldn't sleep) the trainings were being called "criminal DEI Trainings" and "criminal programs" on this document. However, as of this morning the language has been updated.
Tuesday & Wednesday: Even more presidential actions ordered (which I'm still catching up on).
Don't Let Them Distract You
Pay attention to the orders Trump and his team are putting out. Read what's actually in them, not just what he says is in them, because while what's being spoken about out loud is pretty bad, a lot of what's actually in the documents is worse.
Reminder: Trump is largely responsible for starting the "ball rolling" on the TikTok ban in July 2020, and he was still calling TikTok "a national security threat" in March 2023 when he said, "I'm not looking to make Facebook double the size." Trump told CNBC, "And if you ban TikTok, (then) Facebook and others, but mostly Facebook, will be a big beneficiary. And I think Facebook has been very dishonest."
A total 180: Suddenly (now that Zux and the CEO of TikTok have come to kiss Trump's ring), his stance on both TikTok and Facebook has changed.
Trump is no longer worried about Meta's monopoly on American social media (because Meta's founder has agreed to be right-leaning).
Now, after years of saying, "We need to ban TikTok," Trump suddenly started calling to save TikTok (or repurpose it, so the US Government has more control) instead of banning it.
I can't help but be suspicious of the sudden change.
It could have been done to promote Trump (to boost his approval ratings), give an American company like Meta time to migrate TikTok's user data to its servers, alter TikTok and/or Meta's stock prices, manipulating the various platforms' sales and market values. . . or all of the above.
These are just some of my guesses, and only time will tell.
What seems evident (to me) after recent events is that the ultra-wealthy are terrified that the rest of us may realize our strength in numbers and rise up, refusing to be exploited and mistreated any longer.
The oligarchs won't allow TikTok to exist as it used to be. They can't because that existence (as a tool for the masses to organize and spread the word about the injustices happening in America and the wider world) threatens their ability to control what we see and, by extension, how we think and behave. However, somehow (despite these risks), TikTok is back. . . or is it?
The New TikTok
Our Government claimed it wanted to ban TikTok because it was worried about its potential to "skew the perspective of American citizens to be anti-American. " This means the "national security threat" the US government was concerned about was Americans waking up to how bad things are here and rising up to do something about it (which is why the US didn't ban other Chinese apps, many of which collect even more user data, like Temu and Shein, or American apps that take and abuse American user data).
Before this weekend, TikTok used to be the United States' most popular independent news and media outlet (since we lost Twitter to the Nazis a while ago). However, something about this event (the fake TikTok ban and quick resurfacing) feels off to me.
(I personally believe) the TikTok ban was staged by the oligarchy to distract the rest of us (because we outnumber the oligarchs) from the funny business behind the scenes at TikTok (possibly a server transfer, features updates that add censoring tools, and/or algorithm recalibration).
Since its return, many American TikTok users have been complaining about app functionality and talking about increased instances of censorship within the app, sighting differences in their news feeds, automated comment moderation tools, and their ability to share and search for certain types of content from the US (especially content that is critical to the US Government, Donald Trump, certain tech oligarchs, and other members of the current administration).
Some, though not all, users have been able to circumvent their "missing search data" problems by using the web version of TikTok through a VPN (that works by avoiding information blocks, making it seem to TikTok the user is accessing from a country outside of the US). However, this VPN connection method didn't work for most US users during the staged ban, as even many US users who were living or traveling outside of the US lost acess to TikTok during the temporary outage.
We are being censored by those in power (oligarchs and tech billionaires who have embedded themselves in our government).
The media we distribute on platforms like Meta (including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads), Twitter/X, and (now) TikTok are being manipulated, and our government is involved in that manipulation (which is unconstitutional despite what our crooked officials say).
According to the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Every person in the US has the right to be a member of the independent media, which includes gathering and disseminating information regarding events around us (especially grievances related to our government and public officials). The Constitution protects our First Amendment right to free speech.
The US government used to be unable to control and filter our speech on TikTok (due to it falling outside of US jurisdiction). . . but not anymore.
What has been done to prevent the American People from accessing the information available on the world stage (to other global TikTok users and beyond), preventing American users (especially those who are marginalized) from being able to express themselves openly online is oppressive and authoritarian - something right out of every fascist playbook.
As America slips more deeply from capitalism into fascism, our communications are now being monitored and intercepted on almost every platform (preventing us from exercising our free speech, protesting, or airing our grievances in virtual public forums and beyond).
I fear we are quickly losing our right to peacefully assemble online (and connect with one another) at a time when connection is about to become more vital than ever.
Twitter (X) is wrecked, Meta's platforms can't be counted on, and now we can't trust TikTok either. We need to find other ways to communicate (that aren't being manipulated and intercepted by the ultra-wealthy).
With Twitter's loss and now losing TikTok, many (including myself) have since begun to branch out to other platforms (like Substack, Patreon, Blue Sky, Mastadon, Discord, and Xiaohongshu) to avoid having our voices suppressed (as human rights and left-leaning content is often down-ranked on Meta's platforms like Facebook, Threads, and Instagram).
American's Seeing Red
Last week, in response to the impending TikTok ban, many American TikTok users (calling themselves TikTok Refugees, though I prefer TikTok Rebels) started flocking to an actual Chinese App, Xiaohongshu, in protest of the Government taking TikTok away from us.
At first everything in the app was in Mandarin, and English users were depending on external apps, copy past and screenshots to help them create translations and vice versa.
By this past weekend a flood of Americans was overwhelming the fully Chinese app. A few days into the migration English to Chinese and Chinese to English translations were added to the comments sections and dual language subtitles were added (with automatic language translation) were added, allowing American and Chinese users to communicate more easily.
The US government has been pedaling anti-Chinese sentiments and propaganda for years. However, by threatening to ban TikTok they've pushed the American people right into the hands of the, very welcoming, People of China.
For the first time many Americans are seeing that Chinese people are kind and China is nothing like they've been led to believe and many Chinese people are learning that America's struggling a lot more than our leaders have tried to let on, expressing shock and pity for us over the American cost and quality of living and poor treatment by our own government.
Some TikTok users have compared this feud between our governments to being friends (or lovers) whose parents are fighting with one another, with both sides are realizing they’ve been lied to.
I've been enjoying my time on Xiaohongshu and I'd love to connect with you if you do decide to come over (as long as you promise to take your shoes off and be respectful guests as Xiaohongshu is not our house).
Wherever you end up, I strongly suggest you start seeking out ways to communicate that aren't locked down (like the platforms I mentioned earlier or other methods).
It's a good time to make sure you have access to people's direct contact information (like phone numbers and emails), make mailing list, crate groups, and lean into your offline networks.
We're going to need one another to handle what's coming.
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I hope this helps,
- Lyric
I've started a list of all the pages I follow and groups I'm in and where I can find them or equivalents off Meta.
Need to do the same for family and friends.
Meanwhile the fueding parents thing. R&J vibes.
My Space is still working 🙂