S4 E03 - Trump Restores TikTok - Biden Does NOT call it a "Threat to Democracy"?

In this episode of 'The Tenth Man,' we delve into the complex interplay between TikTok, democracy, and political backstops. From the attempted ban on TikTok by both the Trump and Biden administrations to the larger implications of the First and Second Amendments, we explore how these legislative battles reflect deeper issues in American governance. The discussion also tackles the TikTok controversy's parallels with landmark rulings like Roe vs. Wade, and the unexpected ways these backstops shape political strategies and public perception. Tune in to understand why President Biden's lack of enforcement on the TikTok ban might just be the real 'threat to democracy.'

Commentary on trending issues brought to you with a moderate perspective.

Transcript

The Tenth Man: 0:12

President Biden needs to call out another threat to democracy. As Donald Trump endangers the free world by saving Tik TOK. Today. On the 10th man. Much of the free world was alarmed at the prospect of tick talks going away. I know I was. No, just kidding. If you're on Tik TOK, you've probably seen the various creators leaving there, their last will and Testament and telling people where to find me when I go away. The 10th man does have a tick tock channel. If you didn't already know that. And all I figured was, Hey, if Tik TOK goes away, I'll just have less work to do. My leisure time being somewhat constrained ever since the retirement of misses the 10th man. For my part, I figured, Hey, if Tik TOK goes away, I'll have less work to do my leisure time being somewhat constrained since the retirement of Mrs. The 10th man. But the way it played out for creators is, well, Saturday night we were at a Euchre party. You'll hear more about that later. And I just decided to check the status because it was after midnight and the ban was supposedly in effect. And what I saw was a note saying, sorry, Tik TOK is down. I was surprised that it actually happened, but there it was. So I didn't give too much thought to it until Sunday afternoon. When I saw an alert on my phone that someone had commented on one of the Tik TOK videos. I assumed it was someone in my vast overseas audience, because they all still had access. And the Tik TOK app was still running. I guess you could just couldn't view or post a video. Here in the states. But I went online and there, it was back up again. So free speech is saved, but democracy is threatened. All at the same time. And all, thanks to Donald Trump. That paradox is important because what's happening here is another example of what I call the backstop effect. We dedicated an episode to this in season one. Episode six, talking about abortion. And how the politicians would have to deliver more with the elimination of Roe vs. Wade. While Roe versus Wade was in effect. Most people had no idea what they were talking about regarding the subject of abortion. Democrats acted like all abortion rights were in jeopardy when in fact. That case, which went to the Supreme court under challenge. Was a law banning abortions in a single state only. And only after 15 weeks. Which is three weeks longer than you get in France. And that's for surgical abortions. If you listen to this channel, you, you know that the majority of abortions were already being performed medically nowadays it's two thirds. Medically means it's by having a regimen of drugs two different drugs that you take. There was only one abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi. But the Democrats foolishly pushed that case to the Supreme court. And they lost everything. But simply blaming Trump worked for all their previous failures and that's what they lean on this time as well. But more important. The Republicans lost their backstop. You see, a lot of us are against abortion, but are agnostic on abortion laws believing we can do far more for the cause with education than we can with laws. And if you're in favor of abortion laws, that's fine. We can still get along. As far as I'm concerned. But the lazy Republicans in moderate or swing states. Could always campaign on a radical anti-abortion stance. Knowing that the Roe versus Wade backstop would cover them. Keep them from ever having to actually deliver on strong anti-abortion laws promised. Then of course. The midterm elections after row. We're a bloodbath for Republicans. Some states enshrined so-called abortion rights in their constitutions. A gross misinterpretation of the purpose of the document. But even though. The issue is now being resolved, state by state, as it should be. The moderate Republicans have lost that backstop. And no one has learned anything by it. So let's talk about it a little bit here on this podcast. And while we're at it, let's ask everyone to get a friend signed up, to hear this podcast. We are on other platforms, as we said, but podcasts have no recommendation algorithm. The only way to grow this channel. Is by word of mouth. Well, maybe some search engines as well. But anyway, please tell your friends that they can be just as smart as you are by listening to the 10th man podcast. If that makes us both sound pretentious. Well, There it is. So again, we are saying no one has learned anything by the loss of the Roe versus Wade. Backstop. Because the other great backstop is the second amendment. Just as Republicans could formerly speak loudly about their stance on abortion without suffering any real harm from the opposition, they were backstopped by Roe vs. Wade. Similarly. Moderate Democrats can bluster and posture over gun control. Because they're backstopped by the second amendment. Heaven help us all if the second amendment ever goes away, because that's the main thing, keeping the world mostly at peace today. And yes, we are basically at peace. If you just compare the present to the 20th century. Why is the United States? The only nation on earth. That's had the same government for 250 years. Well, everybody knows. We're the only nation on earth that has the second amendment. That is why. People are always reminding us of things that they do in Europe. With the implication that we should therefore do it here. The latest uproar is food coloring that supposedly gives rats cancer. If they take mega doses of it. That's probably the worst possible reason to do something. Copying Europe. And this has been America largely on its own enforcing the peace. For the last 80 years. Thanks to the second amendment. But at the second amendment did go away. The very next thing that would happen. Just before the end of civilization that is. Would be another bloodbath in the next election when all the Democrats would be thrown out. Of course guns would get banned on both coasts. Followed by an insurrection. The real kind of insurrection, not the January 6th kind. Where all the rural counties would declare themselves a new nation. So, what does this have to do with tick tock? Well, it's the same thing. Only this time. The backstop is the first amendment, the one guaranteeing freedom of speech. Joe Biden signed legislation in April of 2024, that would ban tick talk. If it were still under Chinese ownership at the time the law took effect. Why ban Tik TOK. Well, one reason was supposedly to protect children. Privacy groups have complained that Tik TOK violates us child protection laws. And Tik TOK even hired a former Disney executive to improve their reputation. But he ended up resigning almost immediately. So that might be a good reason to ban tick talk, but it's not a national security reason. The wall street journal reported that Tik TOK was causing teenagers to view harmful material, promoting things like, uh, Extreme dieting and other dangerous behavior. And Tik TOK responded immediately after that with new rules to keep that from happening. Then in 2022. Buzzfeed reported that Byte Dance. The parent company of tech talk was accessing non-public information of its users. Tik TOK. Didn't say what they were doing with the information, but they did move the data to US-based Oracle servers. Again, this sounds bad, but not really a national security reason. So much as a monopoly and a privacy issue. Meanwhile, the Pentagon recommended Tik TOK be removed from all personal and business phones. Then in February, 2023. The white house demanded Tik TOK would be deleted from all government issued phones. And the rationale is that Tik TOK is just a propaganda tool of the Chinese government. It's algorithm for example, or it's moderators. I took down videos of citizen protests in Hong Kong. Again, censorship like this is bad behavior. But it does mirror the behavior of Facebook and Twitter, which are not Chinese companies yet have done the bidding of at least one government here in the United States. Government action against Tik TOK has taken place under both Trump and Biden. Trump announced a potential ban in 2020. He signed an executive order in the same year, making it illegal for American companies to transact business with tick tock. Then last April, the legal ban on Tik TOK was signed by Joe Biden. With bi-partisan support. That band was widely supported by the owners of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. No doubt. Since it is a direct competitor. But most important. Both houses of Congress, both parties. And the last two presidents supported the ban. Interesting that you can say the last two presidents on January 20th or January 21st. And you're referring to the same two people either way. And that won't happen again soon. So there was a tick talk band pending. And yet president Trump and Kamala Harris campaign. Using Tik TOK. The law was in place in the spring. Yet both candidates create a tick talker counts in the summer. And use them to campaign for president. It seems that everybody involved was relying on the backstop of the first amendment. And expected the courts. To invalidate the legislation. That band Tik TOK. This is a big problem. Because unlike abortion or gun rights, which are basic ideas. The ban on Tik TOK implies a deep seated problem. Inside the software, which none of us can see. Normally I laugh at concerns of foreign companies having assets in the U S. Back in the 1980s, the Japanese tried to buy the Pan-Am building in New York city. Everybody thought this was a security threat. I thought it was merely idiotic. The Japanese have a near paranoia about buying manufactured goods from us. They would ship us cars, cameras, and computers while we sent back pieces of paper. Dollars. In exchange. Which they would hoard. People whined about the trade deficit, but I never saw a problem. We were getting goods. And they were getting pieces of paper. They were building Scrooge McDuck money bins. So good for us. That made my money more valuable. If instead they dumped these dollars on the market, the value went down. All they had to do was the sensible thing. Engage in fair trade with us. But they weren't smart enough to do that. So they went, aha. We'll buy American real estate. They made an offer on the Pan-Am building in New York city. People panicked saying a foreign power would own an important building in the U S. And I said, so what? They can't take it anywhere. Well in the outcry, they ended up, they didn't buy the Pan-Am building, but they bought Rockefeller center and pebble beach golf club in California. And they lost their shirts on that deal. But the tick talk ban is different. Real estate is tangible. And our civil rights abortion. Gun rights. Are nearly so. But none of us really knows what's going on inside the Tik TOK software or on their servers. Or what they're doing with the data. So, this is more like COVID 19, then those other examples I gave. Because we have to rely on the government to tell us what's going on. And the COVID 19 record is a poor one. There probably isn't much to worry about, but then again, Who's to say. The president that is the former president. That is former president Biden. Stated that he would not enforce the 20, 24 ban on Tik TOK. Even though he signed it. With all the other thousands of papers he's signed regarding pardons for people we've never heard of. Along with some we have heard of. The one signature we all do know about is the one he's not going to act on. So he apparently is not going to say that Trump is a threat to democracy this time. Letting tic talk off the hook. Contrary to the law is not a threat to democracy. According to Biden. This is concerning because of all the things Biden has labeled as a threat to democracy. This is the one action by president Trump, which might actually be so. Securing the border, for example, is the law. Yeah. Biden calls, immigration enforcement, a threat to democracy. If Trump issues an executive order to save tech talk. And at this point he has, well that's outside the law. Why isn't that considered a threat? Executive orders are a tool for the president to employ in order to enforce the law. Not do subverted. Whether this ban on Tik TOK is a good idea or a bad idea. Your elected representatives have sent a bill to the president. Which was signed into law. And upheld by the Supreme court. It's already survived a Supreme court challenge. There's no law, more legal than this one. It may be. And probably is the case that all these people in government. Went through with a ban on Tik TOK because it felt good at the time. Thinking that the first amendment would be their backstop. And that the Supreme court would throw this law out. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. Did it? Hashtag threat to democracy. Hashtag. Thank you for listening.