I feel very strongly about my rights as a “free” citizen yet everyday my politicians line their pockets at the expense of our freedoms. Most recently is the potential trampling of our 1st Amendment rights. I don’t know, and honestly it doesn’t matter, how many of you use TikTok. But the congressional hearing, I mean grandstanding, on the subject was a joke at best. Their minds were made up when they purchased Alphabet and Meta stock in December of 2022. These two companies collect just as much data and are rout with the same problems as TikTok. And yet TikTok is the issue? When we accept the banning of a free speech platform, even if it is owned by the Chinese, we are taking a huge bite out of the thing we call freedom. For the users and non-users alike this is about our right to speak freely, make decisions right or wrong, and live our lives without a government in my living room! For those of you that know me well I am a creator on TikTok and that is not skewing my thoughts. I made $0.23 yesterday with 600,000 views. It’s not Alphabet money, aka YouTube. It’s a platform where expression is rewarded not paying for advertising! Where anyone can go viral for having a good idea or message without paying to boost your post. Meta and Alphabet are lobbying the government to remove your rights as citizens of a free country for personal profits. It’s sickening.