Art and Culture # 104: RESTRICT Act, and how it will affect your Art
-For the Uncensored!
(photo courtesy of Dailydot.com. Source for Photo here: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tech-news-newsletter-09-29-2020/)
The Restrict Act, in its origins, is a ban originating from banning Tik Tok, a large social media app, but the consequences of this ban, prove far deadly. Artists, like myself, take pride in freedom of speech, on any device we use. Be it our laptop, our phones/tablets, a piece of paper, or a typewriter. And the Restrict Act, will be able to bypass all of our electronic passwords, and be open season for the government to attack anyone it feels is a threat to the establishment.
Artists, worth their salt, who aren’t taking government handouts for their art, too, should be mad. It’s a reminder that your rights, in 2023, are being trampled by overzealous corporations and the government working together. Tim Hains, on April 7th, 2023, for Real Clear Politics, quotes former Senator for Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, “It gives them unfettered access to our data, our browsing histories, how we're using different apps on our phones, and it basically criminalizes the use of [virtual private networks] VPNs, with some pretty serious consequences. And they're doing all this in the name of ‘national security.”[1]
According to Rae Hodge, on April 2nd, 2023, through Truthout.com, and Salon, the Restrict Act (S.686), mentions, “The word “TikTok” does not appear once in the bill’s 55 pages. But critics of the Restrict Act on the left and right are now sounding the alarm in rare alignment — calling the measure a Patriot Act 2.0 which opens the door to unprecedented digital surveillance of Americans, and gives an appointed executive panel unchecked power to censor the internet in the U.S”[2] Thusly, giving the executive branch unending power against its everyday citizens. Artist, baker, and candlestick maker, are all on America’s watchlist.
Understandably, this isn’t just about banning Tik Tok, which is state run Chinese media propaganda, which it then looks like a good thing, for Conservatives to cheer on. Because we don’t need illegal spyware tech destroying American culture. But the question is, when will it affect the everyday person? When America starts to censor, even at the smallest way, in the hope of protecting it, puts all artists in danger. And the government being able to spy on everyday citizens, including artists they don’t like, is a problem for both left and right, man and woman, zee zer, and furries, will worry about.
And you don’t have to be an artist in particular, as independent journalists need phones/tablets and laptops to help create stories for their readers/listeners, that will help create their vision. No matter what it might be. No matter what the world might think, America will honor the independent thinkers.
[1] https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/04/07/tulsi_gabbard_restrict_act_not_only_bans_tiktok_it_is_patriot_act_20.html.
[2] https://truthout.org/articles/restrict-act-critics-call-the-far-reaching-tiktok-ban-bill-a-patriot-act-2-0/.