Here is a link to the bill and it’s SPONSORS (Calmly make it clear you oppose their support of this bill if you contact them.):
Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Romney, Mitt [R-UT]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]* 03/07/2023
Sen. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM] 03/08/2023
Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] 03/14/2023
Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] 03/14/2023
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] 03/15/2023 (Of course the guy behind KOSA and EARN IT supports this)
Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] 03/15/2023
Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] 03/21/2023
Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] 03/21/2023
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] 03/27/2023
Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] 03/27/2023
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/restrict-act-tiktok-ban/
https://www.lawfareblog.com/two-new-bills-tiktok-and-beyond-data-act-and-restrict-act
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ddb/restrict-act-insanely-broad-ban-tiktok-vpns
This RESTRICT Act is EXTREMELY authoritarian and violating privacy and the 1st Amendment. It’s being disguised as being about banning TikTok, but it’s VASTLY overreaching and basically gives far too much power to the government.
How bad is this bill? Bad enough that pretty much every side of the political spectrum opposes this bill once they took a closer look at it beyond the TikTok smokescreen.
The following points were articulated succinctly by someone smarter than me:
This act, while saying it's to insure American's personal information will be safe from foreign powers, it goes much deeper than that.
- It will give the United States Government the power to remove and ban ANY online service they deem "a security risk" while making it so they do not need just cause and do not need to clarify or release a public statement.
- It allows them the power to gather American's data without our knowledge or consent and even force us to submit documentation for anything they wish.
- It protects the government from scrutiny on this, and if you try to speak about it and inform people on what it ACTUALLY allows, they can claim it to be false information and charge you.
- It prevents you from using a VPN as it's seen as a breach of information security, thus they can charge you. (Uncertain on accuracy. Crossed out until more concrete information is revealed)
- Failure to abide by these "guidelines" can lead to a fine up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS and/or 20 YEARS in prison.
- And above all it does NOTHING to prevent AMERICAN companies from collecting and selling your data.
It doesn't matter what political party you're on, because BOTH parties in office want this. This is not about sides. This is about the ENTIRE government stripping our rights away so they can keep lining their own pockets.
And that’s what the TikTok ban really is; a smokescreen for Congress to grab more power. This is the PATRIOT ACT VERSION 2. This has BIPARTISAN support and approval from the Biden Administration.
THAT BEING SAID, this bill has only been recently introduced, so we have time.
What should YOU do?
Well, the same thing as past horribly invasive bills like EARN IT and KOSA; we make a LOT of noise, and get the word out.
Right now, the only major publications pushing this bill are mostly neutral, with very few highlighting the flaws of this bill. Getting the word out on how bad this bill is CRUCIAL. Make it EXTREMELY CLEAR that the TikTok ban is just a smokescreen, and that this is nakely authoritarian and dangerously unconstitutional.
And PLEASE call your Senators.
Find your 2 senators numbers here.
Fax them, email them.
Tell them they MUST oppose this bill. Calmly make it clear to them that if they support this bill, then you will vote for someone else who doesn’t go along with this blatant act of authoritarian intent. CONTACT any major human rights and cybersecurity related organizations and let them know about this bill. Get this out to any local news groups that you can.
There’s some petitions by groups like ACLU: https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/tiktok-ban
They are betting on people being blissfully ignorant of this, that it’s “Just about a Silly App”, so they will not expect you to contact them about this. They are trying to weasel this through in order to give themselves more power, and we won’t be able to do anything about it without the risk of being jailed or censored.
Here’s a part of a rough script if you need one. Add in more based on what is relevant:
"Just to make you aware I do not support the TikTok ban and I do not support the Restrict Act. If this bill is passed I will not support any official who supports that bill. Instead, I will be spending all my time and energy supporting your opponents in the primaries."
