Elon Musk Bashes TikTok Ban as 'Censorship and Government Control'

Elon Musk is joining impeached President Donald Trump and other groups in defending TikTok ahead of the looming ban on the app in the US.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk called out the proposed bill banning the social media site as "about censorship and government control."

The post was in response to Kentucky's 4^th District Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, calling the bill a "trojan horse" that will give the government the power to ban even websites providing services to "foreign adversary-controlled application."

It is worth noting that the claim was immediately corrected by US Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr, saying the bill only applies to platforms directly "controlled" by China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.

Carr added that the provision will only be applied if the platform "presents a demonstrated and significant threat to national security."

All the countries Carr cited were US-sanctioned countries. The mentioned nations, however, cannot be seen on the proposed bill.

Proposed TikTok Ban Bill Progresses Through Panel Hearing

The proposed Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act has already passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a unanimous 50-0 approval.

The bill is specifically targeting the Chinese-based ByteDance for potentially providing US users' data to the Chinese government, a nation the US considers a foreign adversary.

TikTok, whose parent company is ByteDance, is warned to make the Chinese company divest from the platform or face a ban in the US.

It is worth noting that all US users' data on TikTok is stored in a separate government-provided cloud server that even ByteDance is unable to access.

President Joe Biden has already expressed support for the bill, saying that he will sign it once it gets passed.

A full House panel is set to deliberate on the law this Wednesday before it goes to Congress.

Musk Embroiled in Social Media Regulatory Probes

Musk, similar to TikTok, has been under scrutiny over his management of X, which he acquired for $44 billion in 2022.

The Federal Trade Commission is still investigating Musk's acquisition of Twitter, demanding the tech billionaire attend follow-up interviews on the ongoing probe.

X has also earlier been accused of providing paid services to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group, a US-designated "foreign terrorist organization," potentially violating US sanctions.

Musk, who advocates for "free speech absolutism," has been noted for blasting the administration and agencies for criticizing his platform for spreading Antisemitism, hate speech, and misinformation.