Communist party

• The U.S. government moved closer to banning the video social media app TikTok after the House of Representatives attached the measure to an emergency spending bill on Apr.
• The move could improve the bill’s chances in the Senate, and President Joe Biden has indicated that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
• The bill would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to either sell its American holdings to a U.S. company or face a ban in the country.
• For one, ByteDance can be required to assist the Chinese Communist Party in gathering intelligence, according to the Chinese National Intelligence Law.
• The fact that China, a country that Americans criticize for its authoritarian practices, bans social media platforms is hardly a reason for the U.S. to do the same.
• Here’s why I think the recent move against TikTok misses the larger point: Americans’ sources of information have declined in quality and the problem goes beyond any one social media platform.

The deeper problem

• But the proposed solution of switching to American ownership of the app ignores an even more fundamental threat.
• The deeper problem is not that the Chinese government can easily manipulate content on the app.
• It is, rather, that people think it is OK to get their news from social media in the first place.
• In other words, the real national security vulnerability is that people have acquiesced to informing themselves through social media.

Media and technology literacy

• Research suggests that it will only be alleviated by inculcating media and technology literacy habits from an early age.
• My colleagues and I have just launched a pilot program to boost digital media literacy with the Boston Mayor’s Youth Council.
• Some of these measures to boost media and technology literacy might not be popular among tech users and tech companies.

The Applied Ethics Center at UMass Boston receives funding from the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Nir Eisikovits serves as the data ethics advisor to Hour25AI, a startup dedicated to reducing digital distractions.

• Both measures prohibit the sale of certain types of factory farmed pork products in these states.
• “We applaud Rep. McGovern for shining light on Smithfield’s infiltration of American agriculture and the multinational conglomerate’s efforts to overturn state laws like Massachusetts’ Question 3,” said Marty Irby, president and CEO at Competitive Markets Action and board secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets.
• To date, 226 bipartisan Members of Congress, including McGovern, have vocalized their opposition to the nullification of Question 3 and Prop 12.
• 171 bipartisan Members of the House sent a letter to Thompson and Scott in August of 2023 and 31 U.S.

• In a new public opinion poll by MITRE and The Harris Poll, the U.S. public agrees, almost universally, that protecting our critical infrastructure is essential to our daily lives, national security, and having a global advantage.
• With temporary failures of critical infrastructure on the rise in the recent years, 8-in-10 U.S. residents (81%) are worried about how secure critical infrastructure may be.
• In collaboration with public and private operators, MITRE is working across and with critical infrastructure sectors to test, identify, and remedy their cyber vulnerabilities.
• The general public can prepare for attacks on critical infrastructure much like they do for storms and other natural disasters.

• "TikTok is a dangerous, sophisticated communist propaganda and espionage tool.
• Zhang Fuping's prominent role as propagandist-in-chief at ByteDance proves this," said Michael Lucci , CEO and Founder of State Armor Action.
• State Armor Action is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization working to expose malign Chinese Communist Party influence operations in America's heartland.
• The organization advocates in statehouses around the country for state level solutions to the global threats posed by the CCP.