TikTok ban?

[Ferguson97]

I’m not convinced of the government’s authority to ban it, but TikTok is a cancerous app and it would be a net positive to the world if it stopped existing.

[Ferguson97]

I'm not sure if this is constitutional, but either way, I won't shed any tears for TikTok. It has poisoned the minds of millions of young Americans. It will also be funny to watch the seethe coming from it being banned.

I wonder if it will be as funny when young people just decide not to turn up to vote. This forum really does have nothing but hatred for young people.

I don’t know how to break this to you, but young Australians can’t vote in the 2024 US Presidential Election.

And I don't know how to break this to you, but people can express their opinions on things outside of their own country.

Oh, and if you have to appeal to nationalism, you've lost the argument.

First of all, "noncitizens can't vote" is a descriptive statement, not a normative statement. Second of all, how is that nationalism? Is the fact that I can't vote in the Australian elections an "appeal to nationalism"?

[Ferguson97]

I'm not here to start an argument, so I'll leave it at what I said. People are free to express rheir opinions on things on this forum no matter where they're from.

You're free to express yourself, just as we're free to ignore you or criticize you.

I'm allowed to express my views on US issues just as you are free to express your opinion on Australian issues.

And if we said something dumb, you'd be in your right to criticize us on the basis that we're not Australian.

I know that a lot of non-Americans follow American politics as a hobby, but the fact of the matter is that in the context of American domestic politics, the opinions of non-Americans will always be less valuable the opinions of Americans (at least on domestic issues, since foreign policy can have a direct impact on you).

And that's not a nationalism thing. I think that the opinions of a non-citizen immigrant hold greater value than those of an American citizen living abroad.

[Ferguson97]

Republicans doing a complete 180 on this issue solely because of Trump is hilarious.

[Ferguson97]

I think this is unlikely to move the needle either way.

A new poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a three-way split when it comes to banning the app, with 31% of U.S. adults saying they would favor a nationwide ban on TikTok use, while 35% say they would oppose that type of action. An additional 31% of adults say they neither favor nor oppose a ban on the social media platform.

[Ferguson97]

If I wasn't sold on banning TikTok before, ByteDance's reaction has convinced me that it needs to happen.