 TikTok, TikTok Bands. We've talked about this before, but TikTok has been banned by the federal government for federal employees to use on their phones and banned by a number of states. And we're told this is security, privacy, although privacy is my business, not the government's business. Why is the government intervening here? Why is the government telling me where they can or cannot? Okay, government employees, the government can tell them. But now what's happening is that because states are banning TikTok from their networks, states are banning TikTok from the phones of the employees, but also from all state-run equipment, what that means is that TikTok is being banned at many of the large U.S. universities. University of Texas is banning it from its Wi-Fi network, so is Texas A&M, a number of other states are doing it. Basically any state that at the state level is banning TikTok from its networks, well, state universities are state enterprises. The networks that run Wi-Fi at state universities are actually obliged to follow state law with regard to state-owned equipment, and therefore TikTok is now being banned in many universities. I think this is a massive infringement on rights. I don't see how the government has any business in telling individuals whether they can use TikTok or not. My use of TikTok is not a violation of anybody's rights. It doesn't put anybody at risk. If I want to give up my information and have the Chinese use it, it's none of the U.S. government's business. The fact that TikTok is being attacked the way it is and really what's being attacked here is the right of Americans to use whatever app they want and to give whoever they want their information. The only role the government has is if I have revealing secrets, if I have a high-security clearance and the worry is that the Chinese might use it to control me somehow or to blackmail me somehow, although even that is far-fetching and far-reaching. The fact that TikTok expects Chinese propaganda, who cares? That's none of anybody's business. I've never understood the whole idea that Russia influences their elections, therefore the FBI has to investigate. No. The government has no business in the business of information. The government has no business telling me what I can consume or what not. The government has no business telling me this is false and this is not false. The government has no business telling me this is a Russian bot or this isn't a Russian bot. I mean, Facebook in order to keep the integrity of its platform has an interest in screening out the bots and screening out propaganda. Maybe Twitter has that interest, but the government has no business. It is a clear violation of my rights. I don't know if it's a violation of the First Amendment. It very much could be, but it's certainly a violation of property rights. It is horrible. I mean, if the government now has the ability to ban TikTok, what doesn't it have the ability to ban? What in the name of protecting me? I can't be exposed to TikTok because TikTok might take my information. Well, but why don't I have the right to decide who can take my information and who doesn't? Everybody who uses TikTok knows it's run by the Chinese and some of the data sets on Chinese service. It's none of the government's business. The fact that this attack on TikTok is bipartisan, that is supported by Republicans and Democrats only makes it scarier. It starts with TikTok. It could get a lot worse in the government intervening and telling us what materials we can and cannot consume all in the name of national security. This is how, again, I go back to my theme. This is how authoritarianism spreads all in the name of national security, all in the name of protecting you from those evil foreign manipulators who want to control your mind and we're just trying to protect you by banning you do this, by banning you do that, but get the government out of my life and get the government away from trying to dictate to me what I can and cannot use, who I can and cannot listen to, what ideas I can and cannot consume. It is truly scary and what's scary to me in particular is the fact that nobody seems to care and I think this is true. Nobody seems to care about all of Trump's lies, deceptions, misdeeds, corruption. Nobody seems to care about that. Republicans are still going to elect him. Nobody cares that the government is intervening directly in what information and what entertainment I can consume. Nobody seems to care. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't matter. In particular here, I'm going after Republicans because they're the ones who should be offended by the idea that the government is intervening here. They don't seem to care, just like they don't seem to care about everything bad that Trump does. That is the latest on TikTok. University is blocking TikTok from campus-wide networks. This is particularly in Texas, but it's in how many schools now? It's in nine or ten, let's say nine, I think nine states and so now we have California, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Texas, Maryland, and again as a consequence of this, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida. As a consequence of this, the university is themselves a blocking TikTok, so just who if I didn't like it. Thank you for listening or watching the Iran Brook show. If you'd like to support the show, we make it as easy as possible for you to trade with me. You get value from listening, you get value from watching, show your appreciation. 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