Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. David Stilwell says new legislation to force the popular video-sharing application TikTok to divest from its Chinese ownership or lose the ability to operate within the United States should be seen as a measure of national defense rather than an issue involving free speech and censorship.
On April 20, the House passed a package of legislation, dubbed the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act,” that includes legislation giving TikTok about nine months to divest from Chinese ownership, after which U.S. app stores and websites will face a fine of up to $5,000 per day per user if they continue to support downloads and updates of the application. This legislation comes on allegations that TikTok is being controlled or otherwise leveraged by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to influence American users or harm U.S. national security.
