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Date: 2025-07-02 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027882
SOCIAL MEDIA
COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL

Brian Tyler Cohen: New Trump scandal makes WORLDWIDE headlines


Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e9pI4UMdc4
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY

A day before the incoming President's inauguration the media is in high gear over Tik-Tok ... a Chinese company with a huge footprint around the world including in the USA.

I am an 85 year old man ... and though I was at the cutting edge of technology for several decades, I cannot pretent to be at the cutting edge any more.

However, I do have some experience with the role that data and information has on people in both advanced countries as well as developing countries. What I know about the impact of techology and social media on people gives me a lot of concern ... and government legislators mostly are failing (1) to understand, and (2) to the extent that they understand to actually address the issues.

In recent times, the 'owners' of technology have become very powerful and in many ways even more powerful than any individual 'head of state'. 'Owners' are essentially only accountable to themselves and fellow owners while 'heads of state' in the political arena must pay attention to their 'people'.

As a younger man I paid a lot of attention to the 'good' that was delivered by 'technology'. A huge amount of 'good' has been the product of technology ... coal and steam to power trains, and ships and electriciy generation, for example. But also gunpowder to facilitate mining and also for military purposes! Over time, more and more great discoveries have had dual use that enabled both good and bad outcomes.

For most of my lifetime the progress of technology has been more 'good' than 'bad' ... but progress in social media technology may be different. The current powerful 'titans of technology' are functioning in a manner that is different and not at all well understood. Like many other innovations of science and technology in the last two centuries social media has some very good outcomes, but it also has bad outcomes many of which are not at all well undestood ... among which is the silent and dangerous damage to the human brain especially at a young age.

Governments and political leadership have little understanding of the damage that social media technoloogy has the power to do ... and Trump expecially, though he likely will make everything worse rather than better! These are troubling times ... and getting worse.

Peter Burgess
New Trump scandal makes WORLDWIDE headlines

Brian Tyler Cohen

3.53M subscribers

Jan 19, 2025

NEW: Trump pulls UNREAL stunt over TikTok

Sources:
  • https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/188...
  • https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1881...
  • https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban...
  • https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trumps-na...
  • https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/188...
  • https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/900019...
  • https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/188...
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Transcript
  • 0:00
  • if you used Tik Tok last night the app
  • shut down by this afternoon if you
  • opened up the app you received a popup
  • notification that read thanks for your
  • patience and support as a result of
  • president Trump's efforts Tik Tok is
  • back in the US you can continue to
  • create share and discover all the things
  • you love on Tik Tok and so the subtext
  • here is that Donald Trump swooped in as
  • this white night to save Tik Tok which
  • might carry just a bit more weight if
  • the whole reason that Tik Tok was banned
  • in the first place didn't start as the
  • result of Donald Trump himself when I
  • wanted to disable Tik Tock three years
  • ago I was met with opposition from
  • rhinos Democrats and everyone else they
  • actually went to court in an effort to
  • stop me we're looking at Tick Tock we
  • may be banning Tick Tock we may be doing
  • some other things or a couple of options
  • but a lot of things are happening so
  • we'll see what happens but we are
  • looking at a lot of Alternatives with
  • respect to Tik Tok we gave them until
  • September
  • 15th after that they got a close shop

  • 1:01
  • okay that's Tick Tock we're looking at
  • Tick Tock we're thinking about making a
  • decision we're going to be watching the
  • hearing today very closely because
  • there's no question that what the big
  • tech companies are doing is very bad
  • tick tock is one thing that we're doing
  • and and we just uh I don't know maybe I
  • would have done that anyway I don't know
  • it could have been affected by this and
  • in fact in 2020 Trump signed an
  • executive order effectively Banning the
  • app in the US in which any transaction
  • between Tik tok's parent company bite
  • dance and US citizens would be outlawed
  • for national security purposes in other
  • words we are here because Trump got us
  • here so when Tik Tok posts growling
  • praise for Trump's leadership what's
  • conspicuously absent is the fact that
  • Trump is the reason that it was banned
  • in the first place but no one in the
  • media or at Tik Tok itself wants to
  • acknowledge that part because part of
  • bending the knee is adopting whatever
  • reality the god king wants you to adopt
  • just like Zuckerberg and Bezos and Elon

  • 2:00
  • now shu is offering up exactly the kind
  • of effusive praise that Trump expects
  • and what do you know shu is going to
  • attend tonight's make America great
  • again Victory rally see how it works you
  • do Trump's bidding you get special
  • treatment the entire big Tech oligarchy
  • just got the memo Shu and Tik Tok are no
  • different if you want to play in Trump's
  • America you have to suck up to Trump and
  • perpetuate the gaslighting that's what's
  • happening right now and of course this
  • cognitive dissonance was put on full
  • display across the entire right-wing
  • media ecosystem Charlie Kirk tweeted
  • this effusive Praise of dear leader
  • Trump is saving Tik Tok pay attention
  • gen Z although while gen Z is paying
  • attention we should probably take into
  • account this tweet also from Charlie
  • Kirk in 2020 president Donald Trump just
  • announced on Air Force 1 that he will be
  • banning the evil CCP compromised app Tik
  • Tok America can't continue to allow our
  • citizens to be surveilled by xiin ping
  • and his terroristic cronies I have long
  • advocated for this fight back and it's
  • not just Charlie Kirk Trump's National

  • 3:00
  • Security pick Mike Waltz showed up on
  • CNN to praise the app as fantastic even
  • despite calling it spy wear last year on
  • Fox Ryan fornier happy to see Tik Tok
  • unbanned in the United States should
  • never have happened to begin with make
  • America great again from the same guy
  • who tweeted this ban Tik Tok and there
  • are countless examples of this hypocrisy
  • on full display here's the simple truth
  • these people think you are stupid they
  • create a problem then take steps to
  • unwind their own problem and finally
  • expect all the credit and none of the
  • blame if I set a building on fire and
  • then put it out are you going to hail me
  • as a hero probably not and what's worse
  • is that Biden actually came out and said
  • that he wouldn't enforce the Tik Tok ban
  • and yet still Tik Tok did a big
  • performative shutdown yesterday only to
  • bring the app back online today with
  • some effusive Praise of trump meaning
  • this was less about the reality of the
  • shutdown and more about publicly bending
  • the knee to Trump to give him exactly
  • what he expected this whole thing the

  • 4:00
  • disruption of service the notices the
  • drama the news cycle it was all just a
  • calculated move to help one person
  • Donald Trump with that said Democrats
  • deserve some blame here for being so
  • oblivious to the consequences of this
  • very obvious play the fact is that Tik
  • Tok is monumentally popular in the US
  • 170 million Americans are on it many
  • rely on it for their livelihoods most
  • people rely on it as a source of
  • information and news and entertainment
  • if Democrats in Congress couldn't see
  • that voting to ban Tik Tok with
  • effectively zero persuasive messaging as
  • to why it should be banned was important
  • then of course there would be blowback
  • and yes they did it with the help of
  • Republicans and the vote was 50 to zero
  • but Biden signed the bill they needed to
  • recognize that they handed Donald Trump
  • a perfect opportunity to then swoop in
  • and reverse the damage that he caused
  • because as we all know Trump has no
  • long-standing principles other than
  • making himself look good and taking
  • credit even if it's taking credit for
  • problems that he created of course he
  • would do that here and lo and behold

  • 5:01
  • that is exactly what happened Democrats
  • need to understand this media
  • environment they need to understand that
  • it's not enough to just say trust us
  • because frankly very few people in this
  • country trust the government if you're
  • not going to take the reality of this
  • media environment into account then you
  • can't be surprised when you're forced to
  • contend with the consequences of it and
  • on this topic AOC brought up one of the
  • most important points the answer is not
  • just playing endless whack-a-mole with
  • apps the answer is that we should have
  • real privacy legislation in the United
  • States and we should help people own
  • their information and have greater
  • agency over their personal
  • information uh so that they're not being
  • spied on all the time whether it's a
  • domestic company or a foreign company uh
  • so we need to actually have privacy laws
  • in the United States to which of course
  • big Tech is going to fight against and
  • their lobbies are going to fight against
  • so they just Target an App instead of
  • targeting the problem

  • 6:00
  • and then lastly when this thing was
  • passed all these legislators were like
  • the who supported it were like oh it's
  • not a ban it's not a ban it's just a
  • force sale which to be fair Force sales
  • have happened in the past grinder was a
  • force sale um and they'll say it's not a
  • ban it'll be it'll be a for sale it'll
  • be fine well first of all they provided
  • very little time for that to happen for
  • an app that big like how who's going to
  • buy Tik Tok hello like it's very large
  • but besides that after leaving no time
  • for a force sale um now here we are and
  • I would say that the lack of forethought
  • and the rushed nature of this bill is
  • now evidenced by the fact that both the
  • Biden and Trump
  • administrations are now looking to see
  • if there's any way to reverse or stall
  • it and if they're looking at that now
  • why didn't they look at it then in other

  • 7:00
  • words of course big Tech wouldn't allow
  • for comprehensive privacy legislation
  • they can't allow that because our data
  • is quite literally what they sell not
  • ads not content not endless scroll not
  • the platforms our data now do you see
  • why they're also desperate to get into
  • Trump's good graces because their
  • primary offering our data is only as
  • safe as the next administration's
  • willingness to protect it to entrench
  • the status quo but they sure do know how
  • to buy Trump and they put that on full
  • display over the last month and he is
  • perfectly willing to be bought to the
  • tune of millions and millions of dollars
  • each Tik Tok meta Washington Post Amazon
  • LA Times nearly every social media
  • company platform and even Legacy Media
  • Outlet is now owned by someone who fell
  • over themselves to heat praise and money
  • and influence on the Trump when we say
  • oligarchy this is what it looks like the
  • richest people in America who own every
  • platform and algorithm in which we all
  • communicate openly in the tank for Trump
  • and the

  • 8:01
  • GOP before you go just a quick note if
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  • screen thanks so much for watching


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