An App for Destruction
Brad Littlejohn WORLD Opinion
On Feb. 27, the United States became only the latest Western country to ban TikTok from government devices. Next up? A complete nationwide ban, if some senators get their way. In an age where we have grown accustomed to sacrificing almost every other human good on the altar of “freedom of expression,” such censorship may seem almost unthinkable. From a broader historical vantage point, however, what’s shocking is simply that it’s taking us so long.
TikTok, which burst onto the scene in 2016 as something of a cross between Instagram and YouTube, soon took the youth market by storm with its highly-addictive feeds of short video clips featuring everything from cute cat videos to user-generated porn. It is now the most popular social media app in America as measured by new downloads, and boasts around 140 million monthly users. Unfortunately, it is the app that is using us, not we who are using it.
Last week, EPPC scholars Rachel N. Morrison and Natalie Dodson submitted a public comment opposing a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Education which would rescind two provisions relating to First Amendment protections for religious student groups.
Rachel was quoted in the Washington Times on the Biden administration's threat to religious charities' conscience protections:
“The new rules, Ms. Morrison said, are ‘a solution in search of a problem. And it goes to the Biden administration’s efforts to say they care about the First Amendment and religious liberty, but at the same time, they are going out of their way to gratuitously roll back protections for people of faith and religious organizations and minimize their participation in protection under the law.’”
Senior Policy Analyst Clare Morell will debate Elizabeth Nolan Brown on the resolution, “The U.S. Should Ban TikTok” at this event hosted by the Buckley Institute and Yale University. The event will be livestreamed and available to view after it has concluded.
