TikTok Archives - Tennessee Star

Biden Repeals Trump’s Attempted TikTok Ban, Replaces It with Order to Review Foreign Apps

June 10, 2021June 9, 2021 Admin

President Joe Biden revoked an executive order that sought to ban downloads of Chinese-owned apps like TikTok and WeChat in the United States, the White House announced Wednesday.

Instead, Biden directed the Commerce Department to evaluate software applications connected with foreign adversaries like China, and “take action, as appropriate,” according to the fact sheet the administration released. The previous slate of executive orders were signed by former President Donald Trump, one of which sought to ban TikTok completely in the U.S.

TikTok Permanently Blacklists PragerU

April 12, 2021April 11, 2021 Admin

Prager University, founded by radio host Dennis Prager, has been permanently blacklisted from Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.

“Tik Tok has permanently banned PragerU from its platform for ‘multiple violations’ of their community guidelines,” PragerU wrote in a tweet on Thursday. “This is blatant censorship.” The organization started a petition over TikTok’s blacklisting.

Second Judge Blocks TikTok Ban in Latest Setback for Trump Administration

December 9, 2020December 8, 2020 Admin

A federal judge blocked the Department of Commerce’s proposed restrictions on Chinese-owned social media app TikTok in an order Monday evening.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols’s order is the latest setback in the Trump administration’s attempt to effectively ban TikTok from the U.S. over national security concerns, according to Reuters. Nichols is the second federal judge to block the Department of Commerce’s TikTok restrictions after Judge Wendy Beetlestone blocked them on Oct. 30.

New TikTok Video Out of Los Angeles Mocks Conservative Georgians During U.S. Senate Election

November 21, 2020November 20, 2020 Chris Butler

In an apparent display of coastal elitism, a new TikTok video tries to lampoon conservative Georgia residents as gullible enough to vote for either Raphael Warnock or Jon Ossoff — if someone dupes them into it.

The two Democrats want to represent the Peach State in the U.S. Senate.

Judge Postpones Trump’s TikTok Ban in Suit Brought by Users

November 2, 2020November 1, 2020 The Associated Press

A federal judge has postponed President Donald Trump’s threatened shutdown of the popular short-form video app TikTok, siding with a Pennsylvania comedian and two other TikTok creators who say Trump’s order hampers their free speech.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Friday blocked an upcoming Commerce Department action that would have effectively banned TikTok in the U.S. by cutting it off from vital technical services.

Student Sues School for Banning Biblical Shirt While Allowing LGBTQ Speech

October 29, 2020October 28, 2020 Corinne Murdock

A Tennessee high school student has filed a lawsuit against Overton County School District (OCS) for banning her Biblical shirt while allowing other free speech. The shirt read: “HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.”
OCS claimed that the student’s shirt violated Livingston Academy dress code policy. Although the policy doesn’t define “offensive messages” or “sexual connotations,” Principal Richard Melton determined that the student’s shirt fell under those criteria.

Federal Judge Blocks TikTok Ban, Giving Chinese App an Opening to Settle Deal with Oracle

September 29, 2020September 28, 2020 Admin

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to block TikTok Sunday, giving the Chinese social media platform an opportunity to forge a deal with Oracle.

The decision gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, more time to approve a deal with Oracle and Walmart, media reports show. Judge Carl Nichols’s decision came hours before President Donald Trump’s ban of the video-streaming app was expected to take place.

Trump Approves TikTok Deal with Oracle and Walmart, Wants the App to Support Pro-US Education Program

September 22, 2020September 21, 2020 Admin

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he approved a transaction between Oracle and TikTok that allows the Chinese application to stay in the United States.

Part of the arrangement requires the newly U.S.-based TikTok company to direct $5 billion toward teaching American children “the real history of our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House, Bloomberg reported Saturday. The president later told rally attendees in North Carolina Saturday that he is establishing a “large fund for the education of American youth.”

Marsha Blackburn Discusses TikTok-Oracle Deal

September 19, 2020September 18, 2020 Chris Butler

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week appeared on FOX Business Morning to discuss what she said was TikTok’s link with the Chinese Communist Party.

Blackburn discussed these matters with host Maria Bartiromo.

U.S. Bans WeChat, TikTok from App Stores Citing Security Risk

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 The Associated Press

The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will saddle the apps with technical restrictions that could seriously limit their functionality in the U.S.

The order, which cited national security and data privacy concerns, follows weeks of dealmaking over the video-sharing service TikTok. President Donald Trump has pressured the app’s Chinese owner to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a domestic company. It is not clear how the latest prohibitions will affect a deal recently struck by California tech giant Oracle aimed at satisfying U.S. concerns over TikTok’s data collection and related issues.

Sen. Hawley Wants TikTok Deal with Oracle Rejected, Says Move Allows for China’s Control Over the App

September 16, 2020September 15, 2020 Admin

Sen. Josh Hawley called on the Trump administration Monday to reject the partnership proposal Oracle reached with TikTok.

The Missouri Republican argued in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the partnership won’t prohibit the Chinese Communist Party from controlling the app. Hawley said the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is responsible for approving or rejecting the deal, should reject anything other than a complete break from China.

Oracle and TikTok Struck a Deal the Details of which Remain Secret

September 15, 2020September 14, 2020 The Associated Press

The short-video app TikTok has chosen Oracle as its corporate savior to avoid a U.S. ban ordered by President Donald Trump. The U.S. government will review the prospective deal.

That much is known. Everything else is confusion, at least to outsiders.

American CEO of TikTok Resigns Amid Trump Pressure on Chinese-Owned App

August 28, 2020August 27, 2020 Admin

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned from the Chinese-owned application after less than four months on the job, CNN reported Thursday morning.

“The role that I signed up for — including running TikTok globally — will look very different as a result of the US Administration’s action to push for a sell off of the US business,” Mayer said in memo to employees obtained by CNN. “I’ve always been globally focused in my work, and leading a global team that includes TikTok US was a big draw for me.”

Tiktok to Fight Trump Over His Pending Order to Ban Its App

August 25, 2020August 24, 2020 The Associated Press

Video app TikTok said it will wage a legal fight against the Trump Administration’s efforts to ban the popular, Chinese-owned service over national-security concerns.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, insisted Monday that it is not a national-security threat and that the government is acting without evidence or due process. The company said it will file suit against the government later Monday in federal court in California. A copy of the complaint could not be obtained.

Trump Orders Chinese Owner of TikTok to Sell U.S. Assets

August 17, 2020August 16, 2020 The Associated Press

President Donald Trump on Friday gave the Chinese company ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of any assets used to support the popular TikTok app in the United States.

Trump’s executive order said there is “credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”

NYT Report Suggests One-Third of TikTok Users Might Be Under 14

August 16, 2020August 15, 2020 Admin

Roughly a third of TikTok’s 49 million daily users in the United States are 14 years old or younger, The New York Times reported Friday, citing internal documents.

The Chinese app’s workers noticed videos from children who appear much younger that remained on the video-streaming platform for weeks, a former employee told the Times. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), passed in 1998, requires internet companies to obtain parental permission before gathering data from adolescents under 13.

A Major Pro-Trump Tech Investor Is Reportedly Working Behind the Scenes to Save TikTok’s US Operations

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 Admin

One of President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters inside Silicon Valley is acting behind the scenes to rescue TikTok’s U.S. operations while the president considers the app’s future, according to recently published media reports.

Doug Leone, a Sequoia Capital global managing partner, is pressing U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House adviser Jared Kushner to find a solution to keep TikTok in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing sources familiar with the discussion.

TikTok Threatens Legal Action Against Trump, Says Executive Order Banning the App Is Illegal

August 8, 2020August 13, 2020 Admin

TikTok threatened to sue President Donald Trump Friday for signing an executive order prohibiting individuals from communicating with the Chinese social media app’s parent company over the next 45 days.

The executive order, which also impacts Chinese app WeChat, was issued Thursday night “without any due process,” TikTok said in a press statement.

Trump Bans Dealings with Chinese Owners of TikTok, WeChat

August 7, 2020August 17, 2020 The Associated Press

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S.

The twin executive orders — one for each app — take effect in 45 days. They call on the Commerce Secretary to define the banned dealings by that time. While the wording of the orders is vague, some experts said it appears intended to bar the popular apps from the Apple and Google app stores, which could effectively remove them from distribution in the U.S.

Clint Brewer Weighs in on Trump’s TikTok Policy Message and Whether or Not Joe Biden Will Show up to Debate

August 5, 2020August 4, 2020 Julie Carr

Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer to discuss Trump’s potential ban on TikTok and whether Joe Biden will show up to debates.

Commentary: TikTok is Just the First Chinese App the Trump Admin is Eyeing for Crackdown Over Spying

August 4, 2020August 3, 2020 Admin

Two days after President Trump told reporters that he plans to ban TikTok from the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested in an interview with Fox News that executive action may soon be taken against many other apps owned by Chinese firms.

Trump remarked to journalists aboard Air Force One on Friday that he could ban TikTok “with an executive order,” suggesting that the president has made up his mind about the popular short video platform. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has been at the center of a months-long debate over whether the data that it collects from American users could be exploited by China’s government.

TikTok Hires Former GOP and Democratic Congressional Staffers to Lobby on US Policy Ahead of the Election

July 12, 2020July 11, 2020 Admin

TikTok has hired several Democratic and Republican operatives to lobby the U.S. governmental amid concerns that the social media platform represents a national security threat.

The company hired several operatives recently to lobby on TikTok’s behalf, including Michael Hacker, who worked as a senior advisor to Democratic House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, CNBC reported Friday. TikTok hired two executives from the Internet Association as well, according to the report.

US Senators Seek to Ban Federal Employees From Using TikTok on Their Phones

March 16, 2020March 15, 2020 Admin

Two Republican senators on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using Chinese social media app TikTok on their government-issued phones, amid growing national security concerns around the collection and sharing of data on U.S. users with China’s government.

TikTok Reinstates Live Action Account, Apologizes, Says ‘Human Error’ Caused Ban

February 2, 2020February 1, 2020 Admin

TikTok reinstated a pro-life group’s account Friday and cited “human error” after the platform said Live Action was permanently banned from TikTok Thursday.

US Army Examines TikTok Security Concerns

November 23, 2019November 22, 2019 Admin

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Army is undertaking a security assessment of China-owned social media platform TikTok after a Democratic lawmaker raised national security concerns over the app’s handling of user data, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Thursday.

Sources: US Opens National Security Probe of TikTok Owner’s Acquisition

November 4, 2019November 3, 2019 Admin

NEW YORK / BEIJING / WASHINGTON – The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co.’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, according to two people familiar with the matter.