MEMPHIS, Tenn. — I'll admit TikTok is the one social media site I want no part of, mostly because the last thing I need is another social media site rabbit hole to go down taking up my time.
To be fair, I don't really understand the appeal because I haven't really tried to. But what I do understand is state after state, red and blue, are deciding TikTok could pose a threat.
Mississippi on Wednesday and Arkansas on Tuesday became among the 26 states which have now taken some kind of action against TikTok. Most of them have outright banned it from state-issued devices. Tennessee did the same thing on Dec. 10, 2022. Late last month, President Biden issued a similar order for all federal devices.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wants to ban use of the app by anyone in the U.S. The fear is because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, it could be forced to give the Chinese Communist Party some of our most private information.
While I understand concerns banning TikTok stifles freedom of speech, and although TikTok categorically denies it would ever share our data with the Chinese, Republicans and Democrats agree on so little. This is one time I'm inclined to go along.