Senator Rand Paul
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The majority of house republicans, amazingly, just in line with the by administration, on one of its top priorities to ban the social media APP tiktok. This amounts to the most far reaching active censorship in the history of the united states, an attack on the right of american citizens to receive their information from any source they choose.

Most of us believe that was a fundamental right, but of course, almost, owner washington admit that that's happening. Let's not at all what's going on. They tell us no. Instead, they're framing was very obviously censorship as an active self defense against the foreign adversary. And if that sounds familiar, IT should be it's the same rational.

They used to buy an Donald trump, among other things, once they designated him a tool of russia and is always, they're doing all of this in the bluntest least strives rain terms because it's your fault, actually vote, voting against the bill is a vote for the chinese communist party, proclaim neocon congressmen. Dan cronshaw, the nicky hayley of texas quote, the opponents of this bill aren't defending free speech. They're defending chinese access to american data and american minds.

Not a good look. You're a bad american if you don't agree with me, says dan cronshaw. And the rest of the liars said similar things and maybe some of them believed that that is possible given the media I Q in the congress.

But just for a moment, let's consider their argument rationally. Let's just assess IT for a moment. The federal government very much wants to protect us and our children from china.

That whether telling us let's assume for moment that that's true. And let's further assume that the chinese government is in fact a greater threat to our happiness and well being, that our own government. Is that a stretch if you think about, in fact, it's totally unsupported by evidence of any kind.

But for the sake of argument, let's just stipulate that, that is in fact true. So if you were in charge, how would you go go about protecting the united states from china? Let's see, the first thing you would do is prevent the C, C, P.

From buying american farmland and controlling our food supply. That way the chinese government, a government they claims our greatest enemy, would not have the power to starve our population to death. That would be key.

You get right on that. Of course, you'd also want to make sure that the C, C, P had zero control over our water or energy or communications infrastructure. Basic elemental things, things you couldn't live without, wouldn't want the chinese anywhere near those things.

You would not allow IT. Those would be the first priorities on your list. And then you would make certain that chinese didn't control your economy. You would not, for example, export your entire industrial base to china, simultaneously making them rich and you poor. You would not do that, nor would you allow them to hold a meaningful portion of your debt that would be reckless as hell.

You wouldn't allow the communist party of trying to to send billions to your most procedures universities, thereby gaining control of the minds of the next generation of your leaders. And the does to say, you would not allow chinese citizens by the tens of thousands to invade your country over your southern border. That would be insane.

You would furthermore keep chinese citizens out of medical, scientific and R N D. Facilities, you definitely would not fund their bio labs or cover up for them when they unleashed killer viruses on the world. No, you wouldn't.

Why would you do that? And then I questions to foreign policy. You would not spend a ton of time worrying about taiwan. It's far away, and honestly, who cares? No, because you don't have all the money in the world or all the time in the world.

You would narrow down your priorities and you would spend your energy and military might on your own hemisphere where you and your population actually live, the people you want to protect, they live in the western hemisphere. So you would not allow the chinese government to colonize pretty much every country in the america's, including canada in mexico. no.

And you certainly wouldn't let the chinese of all people, build the infrastructure in places that you directly control, like this supposedly american virgin islands, where the roads are paid for a by china. That would be crazy and humility and very easy to stop. You wouldn't have to put up with that.

So you wouldn't put up with IT, not for a second. And just to make sure that china understood, you're doing all you could to protect your own people because that was really your goal because being then crunch a, you really care about your own people in your own country. Because of that, you would immediately shoot down any spy balloon from china that floated over montana, obviously, at some of what you would do.

And yet somehow the U. S. Government, even dan kantra, who really cares about your children protecting him from china, has done none of that.

And there's no plans to do any of that ever. So china still makes our antibiotics. And but what then current shot is doing is banning a social media APP.

And probably not the first social media APP. Then crunch a will call for banning, or the by administration with the help of republican leaders will try to ban. So what is this about? Well, it's not about china, maybe about other foreign tries.

It's definitely not about china because painno attention to what they say. Watch carefully what they do. Rand poll of kentucky was, of course, a sitting in the city centres.

Seems to be one of very few in washington who's watching what they do, not what they say. And so he is opposing this effort to be in a social media APP. Not because he is a tool of china. Oh, of course, they're doubtless calling to him that now, but because he is a dot connector from way back and we are honor to have join us now, so are thanks so much for coming on.

Thanks for help.

I'll go ahead and presume to speak for you too. I don't think most people really that in favor of or the chinese government I assume you're not i'm definitely not um but republican leaders seem to believe two things that contradict one another one they believe that on some evidence that um joe biden is like kind of control like china and the job by is pushing trans general ism and yet and that is true but there are lining with joe biden who is suddenly claiming that tiktok is back because it's too chinese and it's pouring filth into the minds of our children he can't be sincere about that, obviously so why would they be joining him in this? Do you have any idea?

You know my concern has always been with the centralization of power, with giving up power. I don't care what is a republican or a democrat president. Don't want any president to have the power to ban apps that are sold on an APP store.

And that's essentially what this is gna happen. Hundred eighty million americans put dance videos up and whatever, also on tiktok. And they choose the terms of this service the same way people want facebook to.

And does facebook scrape your data? sure. As google scrape your data to all of these soft, these giant tech companies scrape your data, they all take your data.

But the thing is, is there are now accusations they say tiktok owned by the chinese government, the chinese communists owit. Well, that's not even true. You can't say step just over over again.

That's not true. Tiktok is owned by about sixty percent of its own by international investors from all over the world. Twenty percent is owned by the two chinese software engineers that created the APP, and twenty percent is owned by the employees of tiktok, which seven thousand of them are americans.

So the significant nexus of americans in the ownership and then there's a significant nexus of americans using this and they say how where the chinese government owns IT, it's just Frankly not true. Now the company that own tiktok also owe something like tiktok that is censored in the chinese left that be broadcast throughout china. The chinese government does have a member of the boy is called doing it's the chinese tiktok, but they don't have a member of the board of by dance.

I don't control by dance. And the data is now kept an oracle cloud, uh, centered in taxes. And this has been done because the company wants to try to exist.

It's a very popular APP. They had has a great deal value. So they're doing anything they can to comply. And yet the history s in the house are just shut down, down and shut down down. Communism, this, communism that look, i've read two books about chinese communism and what is does both during the covered league and also what I did during mouth's rain.

So I am no fan of chinese communism, but at the same time, we can't sort of like you emulate the chinese to try to protect our way of like becoming like the chinese and banning things. Tiktok is behind in china. They don't have tiktok.

They have a censored version in china that the chinese government does control, but they don't control tiktok over a year. If we ban tiktok, we're simply becoming an acting like the chinese. So there is a history of foot.

But in america, there are things that protect. You can just take people stuff in america. If you have a company, I can't come take oker, carls and network just for you because one of your investors is from chinese, from china.

I have to go to cord. I have to prove that somehow you are his communist and you're giving that them. These are all allegations.

They may may not be true. But you can't take someones company with billions of dollars without proving IT in a quarter of law. Likewise, you can't take the rights of freedom of speech of one hundred and seventy hundred eighty million people who won't express themselves. So I think the courts sal rule against, they did twice in the last four years in federal court, and they just recently overturned the montana band. So I think there's a very good chance this is a constitutional, but that doesn't seem to be deterring any of my colleagues in the house.

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merchants payments coalition not authorized by any canada or candidates committee W W, W, merchants payments coalition, dotcom. But their argument does even makes sense. I mean, they're saying that tiktok is foreign controlled.

I'm trying to believe that and that they're spying on us. I definitely believe that. But google and facebook are spying on us on a much greater scale and therefore in control.

Two, they are run by people who hate the united states. Demonstrably, they say so. So google and facebook are not a threat, but tiktok is. So if you're making net caves, like I know you're lying immediately.

right? And the thing is, is that the bill is written such that if twenty percent of ownership is foreign, that's about what tiktok is or if you're controlled by a foreign ny, but that's someone's opinion. They're just saying it's controlled by foreign entity, I think is pri controlled by profit? Like most things in the marketplace, they want to make a profit.

They've spent about a billion dollars trying to comply through this organization called civil, which has to do with companies that have some foreign wners ship try to comply and have an american board, have the data kept over here. Theyve done nothing but tried to comply in the history goes on and on and on. But the first amendments, more important than anything, they're talking about those of fifth amendment.

But there are many people, including similar former colleagues at fox, who believe that there's an exception to the constitution that he doesn't apply when there is national security. The problem with that is there's always a national security for any an excuse for anything you want to do. And so I don't think you throw out the constitution when there's allegations of some kind of connection. You have to prove that you take someone stuff and before you take someone's first emmet privileges .

well and of course, it's not so we know it's not what they say it's about um obviously and I know there's a furious lobbying campaign by various investors hoping to go up tiktok cheap and from competing companies that want to a competitor. I get all of that and some people are really bought and paid for and washington blow your mind, but that's true. But there's also an ideological battle here. And a lot of the people voting to ban tiktok objects to the messages on tiktok like that's true.

yes. content. When you start objecting to content, what you're object into a speech and object to a lot of IT.

I don't use IT. I've never been on tiktok. I read about what's on tiktok, but I don't use I don't use tiktok.

But the thing is, is everybody wants the government to be the parent like h my my teenagers. You've got phones and they're on all stuff. I just can't deal with that.

Will you help me by taking stuff off of there? But once you start doing that, there's a whole host of things that can be taken off of their what about know people who say that you should ever religious liberty or that we shouldn't teach transgender? And in the in the elementary schools, those are horrendous views as well.

Should those be taken down? So I think it's the opposite of tiktok. I think they're promoting a lot of left towing things.

But then there's also people on tiktok in my wife are always telling about the liberals of tiktok, these people that are exposing the liberals on tiktok and apparently they're pretty good investigative. I think it's a woman that does this and she's pretty and good at at at finding things out and exposing things. But the bottom is the more information, the Better you don't like.

I don't use IT. That's what happens in a free country. But IT happens in an authority country when you're connected. The government, if you don't like something and you shut IT down and that's what's happening now. They don't like the content.

They make an allegation that is controlled LED by the chinese government, which there isn't a productive evidence of, and you try to go to court to prove something like that. Yeah, but I don't know. I'm disappointed by this stereo, because are some people who have been relatively good and looking at government in the constitution, who actually, on this go completely a insane and just throw out all rules. And, oh, we gotta do something about chinese communism. This isn't the way emulating chinese communist st is not the best way to combat chinese communist st.

Yeah, they are almost close you. So you tell you what. But last question um this action is supported by like the you know the left, the real left um and by the neocons IT seems to me if this president stands then the next target for shut down by the government or for sale by the government would be x which is of course apply from the most because if the freest of all platforms in the world and so what would stop the congress of the next administration from saying, you know, elan mask is effectively at tool of russian disinformation, doing what they did to him, what they did to trumpet to him and forcing the sale of X, I mean, what would stop them?

The thing is, is I don't know enough about x to know who is. Other investors are probably some of them live in foreign countries, but think of the whole list of countries that have unseen things. I'm not a big fan of egypt's government.

They don't have elections. They have indefinitely attention. They prosecute political and religious opponents. So do most of the countries in middle east.

But i'm not about I wouldn't, I wouldn't each of any more military money, Frankly. But I wouldn't ban your ability to trade with them if you want to trade with egypt. Having embargoes is different than me not giving them free money.

So i'm not forgiving most country, including china, any money. I don't want to have china research money. I don't want to share secrets with. I don't want to share arms with them.

They're all kinds of things I don't want to do with china, but i'm not ready to forbid people trading with them and that sort of where we're headed from this. But you can see the potential love. Look, a lot of people have saw the arabian and investors, but saw I arabia did some things that I don't find.

They don't really have a free country. They killed a journalist, they shop through in. So these are things I object to.

But i'm not sure I want to prevent anybody from having a saudi arabia y and investor like live goal for something. We're going to say they can't exist because we don't approve of the sauces. And so that's what we're headed towards.

So and there's every bit the argument that a regime, max sauli arabia a collects data on their enemies. You think any shiite muslims and satirical ia don't are not followed by the police and don't have their data being collected. So all the things that we accuse china have of doing are being done in dozens and dozens of countries.

Vietnam, a communist nation. Or we're gonna say that nobody does business with vietnam. Most people argue that is a little Better as we do business with vietnam, even though they still don't have the basic freedoms that we have.

People would actually even argue that the trade with china overall, that the people are freer than they were under mal. It's gone backwards a little bit in recent years with way Better than was under mal. And their level of living is Better in china and their level of freedom is probably Better than IT was. But to say we're going to get rid of all that and to have no trade, you can't own anything with these people is really a recipe for war. When you quit trading with people and you forbid interactions with other people, that's when workers no.

And we should keep our own country free. Seems like that would be a top priority. Uh, central import of kentucky. Thank you very much for joining us, and good luck with.