who Squorch??

Well yes, but actually no.

It's just that I'm trying to get people to wake up and spread the word much, much faster; I mean, the USA wants to ban TikTok because a vocal group of people is using it to raise pro-Palestine awareness, this is just the beginning.

Oh, and before anyone says "Just use VPNs!", the US is also pushing another law to criminalize VPN usage where you could end up in jail for 20 years, as well as pay a $1million fine for your release, so it's useless to dance around the restrictions.

They blab about how much they cherish freedom of speech, but are actively attempting to silence others in the same breath and even willing to violate its own amendment to get even more minorities murdered.

This wouldn't be a problem if a crushing majority of the internet weren't US-based/centralized; even if you aren't from the United States, this draconian bill WILL majorly and totally affect you in one way or another.

And I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone that I will NOT answer any more asks until I see more people reblogging the previous post. If you guys can interact with me, than you certainly can reblog/share the post informing of KOSA's threat (however, I did have programmed a post for March 22nd, because while I am scared for this blog's survival, I also wanna know if the crisis has been adverted).

So, I won't say it again: If you guys don't spread the word, this blog, as well as other blogs within this platform, and many other social networks, websites of informative/educational nature (LGBTQ+ subjects, pro-Palestine, abortion/reproductive healthcare, etc.) and even fandom-related spaces...

...WILL DIE.

EDIT: It's sweet that you guys are reblogging this ask of mine, but shouldn't you be reblogging THIS LINK DOWN HERE INSTEAD?

Not my usual art content.

But...

Heard of the TikTok ban?

It isn't just about tiktok.

The Restrict bill, aka the Tiktok ban, is a bill that essentially gives the government COMPLETE control over the internet. This means they can censor whatever they want with no repercussions.

If you are caught saying ANYTHING the government doesn't like, you can be charged and/or arrested. This means they can silence natives, lgbt+, and more.

Not only this, but this gives them full permission to access ANYTHING WEB BASED with a million or more users. A million is less than 1% of the US population.

Worst part is, this cannot be walked around using a VPN. In fact, using a VPN gives you MASSIVE fines and even jail time.

So what can you do?

If you are of legal age, VOTE THESE PEOPLE OUT.

SPREAD AWARENESS. TELL OTHERS, REBLOG THIS.

Check who your senator or state representative is, AND CALL THEM IF YOU CAN. Emails work, but calls are MUCH MORE EFFICIENT. If you do call, tell them about the bill, and why they shouldn't vote for it. Tell them that if they will support the bill, you will vote them out IN THE PRIMARIES (if you can legally vote.).

Join a protest, or organize one if you can. Remember the police can be a bit trigger-happy, so make sure to wear all black and cover ANYTHING that can reveal your identity such as hair, tattoos, piercings, etc.

And remember..

If this bill is passed..

IT WILL VIOLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT. IT WILL TAKE AWAY EVERY AMERICANS RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, REGARDLESS OF RACE, GENDER, ETC.

This is what the rising tide of fascism looks like.

The "ban TikTok bill" (officially called the RESTRICT Act) was never about TikTok or national security. It's a prelude to the construction of a "Great American Firewall", just like all that propaganda about a "Great Chinese Firewall".

A few highlights.

- This bill will call for the appointment or a chairman to form a committee with the power to ban just about anything that can be thought of as 'supporting a foreign adversary' with no voter input and no warning. This includes but is not limited to chat clients, media, and digital storefronts.

- You could face a minimum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for using a VPN to bypass these bans.

- It allows for the mass monitoring and censorship of chat clients and media outlets, basically making this the PATRIOT Act 2.0

Read the full bill, please.

Contact state reps. Inform them that you will vote against them in the next primary if they vote in favor of this bill.

Make noise. Make sure that not only Americans, but the international community knows what's going on.

to be clear, I don't like tiktok and I don't use it. HOWEVER:

I think that the panic about tiktok and subsequent attempt to ban it result in part from rising anti-chinese sentiment

people are more worried about tiktok than other social media sites because the company is chinese, even though domestic companies are more capable of being a threat to personal freedoms, because it is your own government that has the power to directly limit your rights due to accessing your data from social media companies.

for example, using social media data to prove someone had an illegal abortionin the states. the risk of that is far higher with domestic (american) social media companies, because they are more likely to collaborate with the american government. if you live in the states, twitter can exploit your personal information more than tiktok can

a lot of people see tiktok as the face of china and the people who live there. politicians and the media in both the usa and canada are stoking the flames of sinophobia, leading people to fear and reject anything that they can associate with china (I'm not trying to take away individual responsibility for sinophobia by referencing politicians and the media- people are still accountable for their bigotry)

the government likes to have an enemy. propaganda relies on identifying an enemy and working people into a frenzy over a caricature of the so-called enemy. this works especially well if the "enemy" is already marginalized

right now the government, media, and ruling class in canada and the united states have identified china and the chinese people as the enemy. they can and will stoke sinophobia, increase military funding, pass bills and sanctions targeting chinese people, and more. they have their scapegoat and they will use sinophobia to their benefit as they see fit

about what you said regarding the vagueness of the bill in the states, it seems that it is vague on purpose:

the government can use it to ban social media sites that compete with american social media sites, increasing the profit of the american ones. they likely will do this on some scale, considering the benefit to their corporate donors

I don't normally post about this stuff, but I feel like this needs to be said or else, everything we know could be utterly eradicated in the name of "security".

For anyone in the know, you're probably aware that the US Government had been trying to either restrict or even ban TikTok. Well, they've crafted a full bill for it and...well...it's even worse than anyone could imagine.

Bill S. 686, otherwise known as the RESTRICT Act, essentially enables the government to look into anything that could access the internet and I do mean ANYTHING. Computers, phones, TVs, tablets, video game consoles, appliances, modems, even things like your Ring light.

More shockingly, it could also criminalize the use of VPNs and if you're caught doing that or breaking any part of the bill, you could have your property seized, be fined for $1M, and even face jail time for up to 20 YEARS. And this could be used for anything, not just TikTok. If the government sees it fit to block any foreign platform, they will not only make it happen, but they could punish anyone who dares to access these sites no matter the reason.

This bill has only just been introduced in the Senate, but there's no point in waiting. For anyone who needs to know what to do, it's a given that you should call up your senators and representatives. However, I feel like we need to take more urgent action. Currently, the bill has been referred to the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Here's the list of all the committee members. Please call them or email them. For the sake of it, I'll give everyone a script of sorts to base your statements on.

I HIGHLY suggest all fellow US citizens do the fucking same even if you hate TikTok, this shit ain't cool

Christ I hate it here

Too Good to Go: app that connects you to grocery stores and restaurants that will sell you surplus food at cheaper prices.

Signal: Messaging app that erases messages after an amount of time, and allows images to be viewable once.

Taimi: an ĻGBṬ dating app that doesn't allow screenshots of messages and profiles to be taken.

Bandcamp: a great website for music artists, podcasters, and audiobook creators. They pay artists more of the profits than Spotify, and have Fridays dedicated to giving artists all of the profits from sales.

Proton: app that offers privacy and encryption for emails, VPNs, and a lot more.

Community Garden: an app that helps make community garden development easier.

Vero: an Instagram alternative that doesn't use algorithms, data mining, or advertisements. An alternative to go to when Instagram worsens in the upcoming years.

Hygiene Locator: a database for low-income people to find distribution sites giving away hygiene products.

Triller: a TikTok alternative to go to if TT outright bans certain topics.

Little Free Library: an app that locates little free libraries for you.

Evidation: it's a "health app" in which you collect points for activities like walking, but you can just complete their weekly and daily surveys. Basically, it's a beer-monęy app because you can only get $10 for 10,000 points, but if you have time to kill and need to earn extra cash in the upcoming eçonomic crash, evidation is an option.

Farmish: an app to help you locate your local farmer's market.

Boycat: an app that helps customers determine which brand is participating in unethical human rights violations and which isn't . It has recently partnered with the BDS movement!

Bluesky: You've already heard of it, right? It's an alternative to Twịtter, except it gives you the option to mass block MÅGÅ, genocide supporters, and the like. (My profile is itisiives, if you want to hang.)

It gives the US government the ability to ban *any* app, website, or company they believe to be "controlled" by an "adversarial power" which can change whenever they want

It allows the President and the Administrative branch almost unilateral power to designate *any* app, website, or company to be under the control of an "adversarial power" (and just think about how that can be used un the hands of, say, Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis)

They have to offer little to no evidence for this. For example, tiktok - a Singaporean-headquartered and ran company, partially owned by US interests, incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and whose userdata is stored Austin, TX - is apparently controlled by the Chinese government

It also gives the Federal Government the ability to investigate and shut down any provider who gives access to these banned websites or services, including VPN. They will have unilateral power to dismantle VPNs through outrageous fines what will essentially force them to not operate in the US

A lot of the Congressional Representatives who supported this bill have large donors and/or stock in US Tech companies like Meta, Google, or Palantier who would benefit from the downfall of tiktok or the ability to purchase it and monopolize the market

Those same tech companies which sell our data constantly anyway, including to "adversarial powers"

the Restrict act

THE US GOVERNMENT IS MOVING TO MAKE VPNS ILLEGAL, HAVE DONE STOCK MARKET MANIPULATION, & HAVE ALLOWED META EXTREME OVERREACH

IF US TIKTOK GOES, US TUMBLR IS NEXT

And yes @staff this isn’t like last time where we all poked fun at Elon and walked away with our silly little crabs and checkmarks, you guys need to be ready for your US staffers to be laid off too

IF YOU ARE FROM THE US AND KNOW ANYBODY THAT IS 18+ WHO USES ANY SOCIAL MEDIA THAT ISN’T META

Find the March 23, 2023 hearing footage against tiktok and make them stomach as much as they can so they understand how Congress will treat ALL non-Meta social media platforms and those working in the social media industry moving forward

Get them to call their state and federal representatives and tell them

I will not be voting, donating, or supporting you nor you party in the upcoming primaries- I will be supporting your opponent

if you’re not trans or Catholic you might be out of luck—most mainstream suicide hotlines (including the Trevor project) allow calling the cops on you if you’re actively suicidal (although the line for when they do this varies from organization to organization and volunteer to volunteer— it’s overall fairly unlikely ime but it’s a risk). followers feel free to add Suicidality Resources That Won’t Call The Cops No Matter What if you have any

PROOF IN CASE YOU NEED IT

DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS

We can’t just let this man get away with this and go completely free we NEED to fight back against this.

Here’s what you can do

1.Follow the instructions in the picture (alt text is included)

2.SPREAD THIS,SPREAD THIS LIKE CRAZYREBLOG,REPOST ON OTHER PLATFORMS, MAKE VIDEOS ON IT,TIKTOKS ON IT IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER JUST SPREAD THIS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

3.CONTACT ANY ONE YOU MIGHT KNOW CAN HELP

Your government officials,people who run news websites FUCKING ANYONE

So first of all, PLEASE VOTE. The rest of the world doesn't get to vote in your election, but we do get directly impacted by your election, so please do what we can't, and vote.

Secondly, remember that you're not just voting for America. You're voting on behalf of the all the countries that will be impacted by this election.

Palestinians are literally asking you to vote for Harris.

Theyre asking this, because TRUMP WILL BE WORSE FOR THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES.

Trump is friends with Netenfuckwad. Netenfuckwad WANTS TRUMP TO WIN. Trump thinks that America needs to go further in supporting Israel. Trump has spoken openly about "finishing" Gaza. Trump and his family have spoken openly about the "real estate opportunities" that are opening up in Gaza.