Featured in this episode of Chaos Lever
Never ones to waste a crisis to make a naked power grab, our delightful Congress has drafted a bill that would ostensibly be used to ban TikTok. Absent from the language of the bill is any actual mention of TikTok, but the implication is there.
The actual language is so vague and general that is could be used to ban nearly any technology product or service, and make a VPN illegal to use. Rather than this being a bug of the law making process, the more cynical of us see it as an opportunity for the government to ban any technology they take a dislike to. And considering the hallowed halls of our nation’s capitol are packed to the gills with geriatric luddites who fail to grasp even the most basic components of technology, this is.. Bad.
All it takes is a couple well-funded lobbyists to Weekend-at-Bernie’s the current or future secretary of commerce and we’ll be up to our ear lobes in banned apps due to “national security”. Efforts to circumvent such bans would also be illegal, potentially making the use of VPNs also legally questionable.
It’s just another instance of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, setting the house on fire, and nuking the neighborhood from orbit for good measure.