In every election cycle, Republicans recite the same platitudes. They claim they will win “the youth vote,” and bring younger voters to the GOP.
Every time they win an election, Republicans don’t deliver.
A part of the problem is the tendency of young voters to live in the now. They want their student loan forgiven, and cheaper homes, and want everything on a plate, all while voting for Democrats, who are responsible for most of the issues they complain about. Note: This does not include all young voters. Many are intelligent, well-informed, and see the world for what it is. They don’t buy the Democrats’ fairy tale.
Republicans have little power to change this. Some lessons are only learned through experience. Many stories are told of young Democrats being slapped in the face with reality when they get their first tax bill or go to buy their first home. When you’re the one who gets to keep all of that free money, it loses its appeal.
Republicans should still try to solve this problem. The plan that they have come up with is to ban Gen Z’s favorite social media app, TikTok.
TikTok can be dangerous and helps Chi-coms spy on us through data mining and security breaches. Tech expert Kim Komando wrote:
TikTok poses a threat to national security. ByteDance, the parent company of Chinese social media platform TikTok, is based in Beijing. Chinese law requires that ByteDance give government access to data collected.
TikTok collects information such as search and browsing histories, facial IDs, voice prints, texts, locations, and photos.
Just ban it, then. If you want to anger 80 million US users, two-thirds of whom are voting-age. Most TikTok users (Gen Z) are younger than 29 years old. They spend an average of more than one hour and a quarter a day using the addictive platform.
But somehow, GOP candidates believe this is a winning topic for their party.
In 2020, then-President Trump attempted to ban TikTok outright. However, his attempt was rejected by a federal court.
Trump’s executive orders explained that “TikTok captures a wide range of data from its users including Internet and network activity information, such as location and browsing and search history,” the order said. This data collection could give the Chinese Communist Party access to American’s personal and proprietary information. It could allow China to track Federal employees and contractors and build dossiers containing personal information to blackmail and conduct corporate espionage.
Trump isn’t the only one. Nikki Haley, a former UN ambassador, said during the Republican debate on Wednesday “we need to ban TikTok for good, and I’ll tell you why.” Every 30 minutes someone spends watching TikTok each day makes them 17% more antisemitic and pro-Hamas.
Vivek RAMASWAMY, a Twitter user who posted earlier this year that he was “very open” to banning TikTok. We sit back and do nothing while kids become addicted to TikTok like digital fentanyl. The young hypocrite, who is currently campaigning on TikTok, is a young person.
Chris Christie stated last month, “In my first week as President, we will ban TikTok.”
What’s that sound? The sound is the Gen Z voting for the Democrats.
Ron DeSantis is the only GOP candidate who has a more measured style.
He told The Wall Street Journal, “I’m inclined not to want TikTok here in the United States.” “I believe it creates a vulnerability in our security.” “I think they are mining data in large quantities.”
He did not ban the app outright. DeSantis said to the Journal that he did not want Big Brother getting into everyone’s apps. It’s about the vulnerability of our country.” Last year, the Florida Governor banned TikTok from being used on devices and servers in government and schools.
TikTok is not without its dangers, but a ban at this time, when the app is at its peak, would cause Gen-Xers to take to the streets in protest. Is this a message that will win over the Gen-Xers?
I agree with others that TikTok is dangerous, but not an issue for a political campaign. When and if Republicans ever regain control of Congress and the White House (and this is a big “if”), then it will be possible to find creative ways to mitigate the risk. These solutions should not, however, be anti-freedom.
Let’s stop talking TikTok, and instead focus on issues like the cost of eggs and bread and the high price of college and homes — these are kitchen table topics that Gen-Zers and every other generation care deeply about. In this country, we’ve had enough of government censorship. We don’t have to take part in it.
It’s always the economy that is stupid, not the party.
