Re: coldest inauguration since Reagan

On Sat, 18 Jan 2025, JAB wrote:

On Sat, 18 Jan 2025 18:00:21 +0100, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
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5. Supreme Court (9/0) upholds law to force TikTok sale or ban - Trump
wanted to ban the app through executive action in his first term, but
now, he has to show his "deal making" cards.  In your face, Trump...

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This is ok.

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No...Here's the problem..."ByteDance investor Jeff Yass tops 2024
donor list with TikTok under fire....Yass is estimated to have a 7%
personal stake in ByteDance, roughly the equivalent of $21 billion,
according to the Wall Street Journal."
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/21/tiktok-jeff-yass-bytedance-donor-conservative
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But now, "Trump says he will 'most likely' delay TikTok ban
temporarily, but has not made final decision"
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Jeff Yass has a reasoning problem....US will not ban it if managed in
the US, but he says "TikTok is about free speech and innovation, the
epitome of libertarian and free market ideals. The idea of banning
TikTok is an anathema to everything I believe."
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Jeff is blowing smoke....

It is a very fascinating situation! Yes, from a libertarian point of view, in isolation from the world, free speech is king and no one should be censored.
However, Titok is weaponized by china. US companies are not allowed free speech in china, tiktok is used to elevate the status of china, downplay their human rights atrocities, add to that, the asymmetry of US investors not being allowed to start and own (100%) companies in china, while chinese investors, and by extension, the chinese government, are allowed to buy and invest fully in other countries.
From that point of view, banning tiktok, and chinese ownership is an act of self defense. Once china allows free investments, free speech, of course they will be granted the same rights abroad. If they censor, limit and weaponize their companies and platforms, of course they will be banned.
Forget about russia, long term, china is the biggest threat to the free world.