{"id":2043020,"date":"2023-09-24T07:53:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T11:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-republican-megadonor-is-fueling-chinas-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns\/"},"modified":"2023-09-24T07:59:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T11:59:46","slug":"how-a-republican-megadonor-is-fueling-chinas-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-republican-megadonor-is-fueling-chinas-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican megadonor supports China&#8217;s TikTok despite security concerns."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-a-republican-megadonor-is-fueling-chinas-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2043020&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Washington Unites: Bipartisan\u200d Support Emerges \u2064for Banning TikTok<\/h2>\n<p>While few issues gain bipartisan support in Washington, \u200bthe idea\u2064 of banning TikTok\u200d has emerged as a middle\u200d ground for Republicans and\u200d Democrats in Congress.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>But one billionaire Republican financier, Jeff Yass, is deeply\u2064 invested in TikTok&#8217;s Chinese parent company ByteDance and could stand to lose major sums\u2063 should the social\u2062 media \u200bapp \u2063be\u2062 outlawed in the United States. And many \u200don\u200d the Right want\u200b to send a message to the GOP&#8217;s \u2062wealthy \u2063donor class: Stop pumping\u200b cash\u2064 into entities they say are opposed to America&#8217;s national\u200b security interests.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Conservative Concerns<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Conservative philanthropists, and their grant recipients, \u2062need to consider more \u200bcarefully the relationship between their investments\u200b and \u200bthe sources of civilizational health or\u200d decay,&#8221;\u2062 Ryan P. Williams, president of the conservative Claremont Institute think tank, told the Washington Examiner. &#8220;TikTok is a cancer on Western civilization and self-government.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Over\u200b a dozen \u200dattorneys\u2062 general on Monday expressed support for Montana&#8217;s\u200c efforts to ban TikTok, stating the app &#8220;intentionally\u2063 engages in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-takes-aim-at-social-media-giants-cash-cows\/\" title=\"Biden Administration Takes Aim at Social Media Giants\u2019 Cash Cows\">deceptive business practices<\/a>\u200c which induce individuals to \u2063share sensitive\u200b personal information that can be easily accessed by the Chinese Communist Party.&#8221; Earlier this \u2064year, the Biden administration \u200bgave ByteDance an \u200dultimatum to either sell off TikTok or soon face a ban, which \u200ccontinues to \u200bbe mulled by\u2063 Congress.<\/p>\n<p>ByteDance, \u2064which\u200d is headquartered in\u200c Beijing\u2063 and \u200cincorporated in the Cayman Islands, has been the target of \u2063a \u2064Justice Department investigation over its \u2064apparent spying on U.S. \u2062journalists. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has said the U.S. &#8220;should\u2064 act decisively to ban TikTok directly,&#8221; while Sen. \u2064Mark Warner (D-VA) in \u2063early\u2063 2023 was joined by over\u200d two dozen Democrats and \u2064Republicans\u200b to introduce the RESTRICT Act, which would propose the \u200cCommerce Department have authority to review business transactions for technology \u200bproducts linked\u200c to a &#8220;foreign\u200c adversary&#8221; of the U.S, and present &#8220;undue and unacceptable risk&#8221; to\u200c U.S.\u200c national security.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any\u2063 platform the Chinese government is using to intentionally manipulate \u200bAmerican culture should be banned,&#8221; Executive Director Wade Miller of Citizens \u200bfor Renewing America, a conservative group \u200bheaded by ex-Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, told the Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, there is strong backing among the Right to take \u2064action against TikTok, which \u2064they view to be a proxy for the CCP. But not\u2064 everyone is on the\u200d same page.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Susquehanna International\u2064 Group, Yass&#8217;s investment firm, purchased a stake in \u20622012 in ByteDance now worth\u2063 roughly 15%,\u2063 the Wall Street\u2064 Journal reported, noting he\u2064 personally has a 7% stake in \u200bthe Chinese company valued \u2064at around $21 billion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And that $21 billion isn&#8217;t far off from the \u200dbillionaire&#8217;s net worth \u2014 \u2064Forbes estimates Yass has roughly $29 billion.\u2064 Yass has also donated\u200b $61 million since \u200b2017 \u200bto \u2062the influential GOP-aligned Club for Growth, whose\u2062 president, ex-Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN), penned \u200can op-ed \u2064in March pouring cold \u2064water on a TikTok\u200b ban proposal, stating that handing &#8220;the government the power to ban apps and pick and choose between competing apps is a huge restriction on phone freedom.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We oppose\u2062 censorship, giving President Biden \u2064undefined broad authority to go after private \u200dbusinesses, and using regulations to \u2063shut down competition \u2014 all of which would \u2063happen under the proposed legislation,&#8221; \u2064McIntosh \u200btold\u200b the Washington Examiner. He was referring to the DATA Act, a bill led by\u2062 House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman \u2062Michael McCaul (R-TX)\u2064 and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), which aims to give Biden the power to ban TikTok.<\/p>\n<p>McIntosh also\u2062 told the \u200cWashington Examiner, &#8220;The government should not be in the business\u2062 of \u200ctelling people what to\u200d put on \u200dtheir \u200dphone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yass and his wife, Janine Yass, have contributed \u200bover $24\u200c million combined since 2015 to Sen. Rand Paul\u2064 (R-KY), and committees supporting him, and \u2063over $32,000 combined since 2020 to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY),\u2063 and a committee backing\u200d the\u2062 lawmaker, the Wall \u2063Street Journal reported. \u2063Both of\u2064 the libertarian-leaning Republicans have taken\u200c ardent free\u2064 speech positions \u200bover the years and opposed\u200c a\u2064 TikTok ban.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;TikTok has used America&#8217;s First Amendment to try to protect \u2062itself from being shut\u200c down as a tool of\u2063 our enemies,&#8221; Dan Schneider, vice president of Media\u200b Research Center&#8217;s \u2062Free Speech America, a conservative anti-censorship group,\u2062 told \u200bthe Washington Examiner. &#8220;It should not have \u2062First Amendment privileges.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yass \u2064was \u2062notably the third largest \u2063right-leaning donor in the \u20622022 \u200celections, pouring $49 million to boost\u2063 conservative-tied causes and candidates, \u200daccording to OpenSecrets, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-gop-lawmakers-look-to-eliminate-nonprofit-influence-over-election-results\/\" title=\"Ga. GOP lawmakers look to eliminate nonprofit influence over election results\">campaign finance tracker<\/a>. He&#8217;s also made \u200ddonations\u200d to Gov. Ron \u2062DeSantis&#8217;s (R-FL) state PAC in the\u2062 past and \u200brecently gave six figures to a \u2062committee aligned with Sen. Tim \u2064Scott \u200d(R-SC),\u200c who, like the Florida governor, is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Scott\u200b in May introduced\u2064 a bill that would require the government to form a list of &#8220;adversarial governments&#8221; with control over an app&#8217;s design and \u200dcontent choice, and, \u200bat the moment, would hypothetically \u200csupport a TikTok ban but doesn&#8217;t\u200d think it&#8217;s feasible, according to a source familiar with his thinking. DeSantis signed a bill \u2062banning TikTok in schools in May, \u2063and in August said, &#8220;I think so,&#8221; \u200dwhen asked if he \u200cwould &#8220;ban TikTok&#8221;\u200c outright.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve\u2063 supported libertarian and free market principles my entire \u2064adult life,&#8221; Yass said \u200brecently. &#8220;TikTok is about free speech and innovation, the epitome of libertarian and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-treasury-department-official-claims-inflation-reduction-act-will-move-us-toward-neo-marxist-economic-model\/\" title=\"Former Treasury Department Official Claims Inflation Reduction Act Will Move US Toward \u2018Neo-Marxist\u2019 Economic Model\">free market ideals<\/a>. The idea of\u200c banning TikTok \u200bis an anathema to everything I believe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, TikTok and ByteDance have been\u200b on a lobbying\u200b spree as\u200d they fight to retain operations in the U.S., spending \u200btens of \u2063millions of dollars\u2063 since 2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-outraise-democrats-across-the-board-in-january\/\" title=\"Republicans Outraise Democrats Across the Board in January\">financial disclosures show<\/a>. Tiktok&#8217;s \u200dlobbyists \u200dhave also repeatedly scored visits to the \u2063White\u200c House, which has raised concerns\u2064 among\u200c national security experts about the\u2063 China-tied app gaining access \u200cto\u200c the \u200dhighest levels of \u2063government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;TikTok is trying to\u2062 upend American values and our democracy,&#8221; \u200cSchneider said.<\/p>\n<p>Yass and TikTok did not reply to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-unites-bipartisan-support-emerges-for-banning-tiktok\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM\u200d THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What is the impact of banning TikTok on personal freedoms and competition in the marketplace, and how can it be \u2063balanced with the need for national\u200c security<\/h2>\n<p><span>  To hide behind our cherished\u200d \u200brights in \u200dorder to\u2063 undermine\u200d our national\u2062 security\u200b.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Need for \u200cBipartisan \u200dAction<\/h3>\n<p>While there may \u2064be a divide among Republicans on the issue of TikTok, bipartisan support is growing to address the concerns raised by the app&#8217;s potential \u200cthreats to\u200b national security. In a \u2064joint statement, Republican and Democratic attorneys\u2063 general\u2064 highlighted the need to protect individuals&#8217; personal information from being accessed by the Chinese Communist Party. They emphasized the deceptive \u200cbusiness practices employed \u2063by TikTok and called for action to address this issue.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, lawmakers \u2064like Sen. Warner\u200d have introduced legislation\u200c aimed at\u200d giving the Commerce Department authority to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-republican-megadonor-is-fueling-chinas-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns\/\" title=\"Republican megadonor supports China's TikTok despite security concerns.\">review business \u200ctransactions involving technology products linked<\/a> \u2062to foreign\u2062 adversaries. This step would ensure that any potential risks to national security\u2063 are thoroughly \u200cevaluated before allowing \u2062these transactions to proceed.<\/p>\n<p>However, the opposition to a TikTok\u2064 ban from some Republicans, including billionaire financier Jeff Yass, \u200chighlights the broader debate surrounding personal freedoms and the role of\u2062 government regulation. Yass&#8217;s significant financial interests in\u200c TikTok&#8217;s parent company, ByteDance, undoubtedly influence\u200c his\u2062 stance on\u200d the issue. He, along \u2062with \u2063others,\u200b argues that banning TikTok \u2064infringes upon individuals&#8217; rights and restricts competition in the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>It is crucial to find\u2062 common ground and strike a balance between\u200c protecting national security and safeguarding personal freedoms. The debate around TikTok serves\u2062 as a reminder that comprehensive solutions require bipartisan cooperation \u2014 an all-too-rare occurrence\u200b in today&#8217;s polarized political climate. \u2064Both sides must come together to address the legitimate \u2063concerns raised \u200dby TikTok\u2063 while upholding \u2064the principles of free speech and individual liberties.<\/p>\n<h3>An \u200bUrgent Matter<\/h3>\n<p>The urgency of addressing \u2063the issue of TikTok cannot be\u200b overstated. With millions of users in\u200d the United States, the app\u2063 has the\u2062 potential to \u200bcompromise the personal data of\u200d countless \u200cindividuals.\u200b By banning \u200cTikTok, the government can\u2064 mitigate the risk of sensitive\u200c information \u200cfalling into the \u200dwrong hands.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the \u2063threat posed by \u200bTikTok extends beyond personal privacy concerns. With evidence\u2063 suggesting that the Chinese\u2062 government \u2064may\u2064 be\u2064 using the\u2062 platform for propaganda \u200cand manipulation of American culture, it is imperative to take decisive action. As Executive Director \u200bWade Miller\u200b astutely pointed out, \u200callowing the Chinese government to manipulate \u2064American \u2062culture through TikTok is unacceptable\u200b and undermines the core \u200cvalues\u2064 of our society.<\/p>\n<p>The TikTok\u200d ban debate transcends party lines and political ideologies. It is a matter of national\u200b security and protecting the interests of the American people. The concerns raised by TikTok&#8217;s operations and its ties to the Chinese government need to be thoroughly investigated and addressed. Failure to do so\u2064 would be\u200c a disservice to both our national security and our\u2063 commitment \u2062to upholding the values\u200c that define our nation.<\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>While rare,\u2063 the emergence of bipartisan support for banning TikTok demonstrates that some issues can transcend political divisions. The concerns surrounding TikTok&#8217;s potential threats to national\u200c security \u2063have\u2063 garnered attention from both Republicans and Democrats, \u2063highlighting the urgency of addressing this issue.<\/p>\n<p>However, the debate is far \u2063from settled. The opposition to a TikTok \u200dban from some Republicans, like billionaire financier Jeff Yass, underscores the broader debate around\u2062 personal freedoms and \u2063government regulation. Balancing the \u2064need \u200bfor national security with individual liberties requires careful \u2063consideration \u2064and \u2062bipartisan cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>As\u200c the debate continues,\u200c it is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bipartisan support is rare in Washington, but banning TikTok has become a middle ground for Republicans and Democrats. However, Jeff Yass, a billionaire Republican financier, has a significant stake in TikTok&#8217;s Chinese parent company ByteDance. If the app is outlawed, he stands to lose substantial amounts of money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2043021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2043020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2043021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2043020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2043020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2043020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}