TikTok

June 17, 2025

Motivated by national security fears and belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, Congress passed a law which was signed by President Biden requiring TikTok either sell to a US buyer or be shut down. More specifically, on March 13, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) with largely bipartisan support from Democratic and Republican representatives. It would ban operations related to the app completely within the country unless ByteDance makes a qualified divestiture as determined by the US president. After modifications, the act passed the House again and the United States Senate before it was signed into law by Joe Biden on April 24, 2024. The ban went into effect on January 19, 2025. An additional 90 days could be issued on the deadline.

Trump refuses to enforce the law. And Republicans are going along with him of course.

We have determined that TikTok is a national security threat. We have a law requiring it to be sold or shut down.

Why isn’t Trump enforcing the law?

Answer — because he has a buddy who owns a stake in the parent company.

I keep thinking I’ll sit down and write out all the stuff that pisses me off about what’s going on in the world. I don’t know if there is enough time in the day.

The realty is that I know I can’t do squat about it. I have the freedom to ignore it all. I’m struggling to exert that freedom. The realty is that as rational as I try to be, deep in my core I am an emotional person. While some have thought me to have Asperger's and have the inability to show emotion, the realty is I feel things so deeply that I try not to show it. When I do show it, it can come out as irrational and I can feel out of control.

Time to go work out.