Potential Tik Tok ban prompts migration to another commie app (01-15-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] If you've been here for the last hour, thank you very much. I appreciate it. I did get a bunch of messages here that I will endeavor to get to. They're all over the place. They're on Twitter at Pete Kaliner. They're an email, pete at thepetekalendershow.com. And I did mention Tik Tok. So I will passacki back to the Tik Tok. But Pam Bondi went before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[00:00:58] They were asking her questions and such for the, as part of the nomination process to be Attorney General. I played a bunch of the audio in the last hour. So if you want to go back and catch that, pick up the podcast at thepetekalendershow.com or thepetepod.com or wbt.com. It's on all of your podcasting platforms, basically. Michael is nominating me to be Secretary of Grammar.

[00:01:28] Well, in the case of fentanyl versus fentanyl, I think it's more of, is it pronunciation? I guess that falls under grammar. I don't know. I'm not always so good with the grammar either. He does agree with me, though. He says his mom would say Walmart and plasket. Plasket instead of plastic.

[00:01:57] Yeah, like library or supposedly. Not words, people. Not words. He then asks also what would be the best cabinet position, real or made up for producer John Moore. I don't know if I want to answer that, actually.

[00:02:19] Russ says, quote, Dick Durbin says dot dot dot is one of the best shortcuts I have ever learned for what can be ignored or totally discounted as partisan hackery when it comes to Senate news. Also, it sounds like you're saying Maisie Hirono's pauses indicate even she suspects the words coming out of her mouth might not make sense. Indeed. Indeed, that may be what that indicates. She's just so bad.

[00:02:50] DL says that over on Blue Sky, a tweet is a cloud. Is that what they call them? Clouds? Really? Also, producer Steve went and looked up that Maisie Hirono has, in fact, visited the border. And when he told me that, I said, let me guess it was to see the kids in the cages. And it was. That's the only time Hirono's gone down there was to go do the photo op against Donald Trump.

[00:03:19] So, Tommy wants to know who's going to replace that idiotic press secretary, Coringe Jean-Pierre. I don't know yet. I'm not I've not seen. No, wait a minute. It's been a couple of months, though. I feel like they did name somebody, but I forget who it was. I forget. All right. So let me get to the tick tock. Full disclosure, I have never signed up for tick tock.

[00:03:49] I would prefer that the commies over in China not have a whole bunch of my information or access to my camera, videos, photos, whatever. See, and part of the problem here is that when you're a kid and you're posting what you think are just these, you know, dance videos or or commentaries or something.

[00:04:13] But you don't know how that stuff is going to get used against you in 20 years, 30 years or something like that. That's that's part of the the concern. That the Chinese Communist Party that controls all of the businesses, especially the big ones like ByteDance, which is the parent company of tick tock, that they scrape the data and information out of these programs.

[00:04:41] And nobody ever reads the terms of service agreement. And so what you're agreeing to, you have no idea before you download and use the app. And so they may very well have access to all sorts of stuff that they are an adversarial power. And that is a national security threat. You may not agree like you may not like that.

[00:05:07] You may not agree with it, but that's the assessment that is coming from the the intel community. And you may not believe that. That's fine. But they did pass a law. It was bipartisan. It was signed into law by a Democrat president that told ByteDance that because of these national security implications, you have to divest. So it's not a ban on tick tock.

[00:05:36] It is a forcible divestment. They're saying you cannot be a foreign adversarial nation and and trade with us. I'm just kidding. We can still totally trade with you, but we just don't like this app. OK, we don't like this app because you're taking all of this information. And China, I'm not sure you're aware of this. You may be.

[00:06:01] But China has a bit of a reputation for stealing a whole bunch of stuff from people, particularly us. They steal our technology. They I mean, I think they even stole their the fortune cookies from Japan. I mean, like they're just they just steal a bunch of stuff. They're not innovators. They are thieves and they can replicate stuff.

[00:06:24] I remember reading a story years ago about how there was some sort of product that was ripped off by the Chinese. But the product that they stole had a flaw. And I forget if it was purposefully designed that way in order to sort of catch them or something. But they replicated. The the flaw in the product as well as the entire product. There isn't.

[00:06:52] And this is what happens, by the way, in these types of totalitarian states, is that everyone is afraid to question anything. And so they don't ever stand up and say, hey, I think I see a flaw in this design because that might get you killed. Right. Get your bank account shut down. They ship you off to some Uyghur Gulag where you manufacture Nike sneakers and iPhones or something. Never see the light of day again.

[00:07:21] So the Supreme Court took this case because they got the government is getting sued over the constitutionality of this law. And the Supreme Court heard the case on Friday. And according to the Associated Press, they're already calling it. They say, which I never understand why people think they know how these things are going to shake out.

[00:07:46] You have no idea how this stuff is going to just wait, you know, just wait for the for the ruling. But no, no. Like the reporter has to let us know what they think without saying, I think this is the way it's going to go. So they say the Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold the law. Why? Because of the questions that the that the justices were asking.

[00:08:12] But you're just interpreting that you're just you're you're listening to the questions that are being asked by specific members. Then you're doing like a whip count based on the questions. But that does not indicate how the ruling is going to come down. So just like you're a reporter, just wait for the thing to happen and then report on the thing that happened. You don't need to speculate what might happen because, you know, what else might happen? They could strike it down, too. That might happen. And you were wrong. Right.

[00:08:42] OK, so most of the justices, they say, appear to take seriously. The national security risks posed by the wildly popular app whose parent company is based in China, which is one way of putting it. One way of putting it that they're based in China. Right. They are based in China. That is true. And China is a communist country.

[00:09:09] And when you have a company like ByteDance and TikTok. The government is all up in there. The government is part. There is no difference between these companies and the government. OK. U.S. government. The U.S. government says Chinese authorities could force the company to hand over sensitive data on its massive American user base. No. Oh.

[00:09:38] Communist Chinese would never do that. Commies would never try to. Oh, wait. Yeah, they would. They would totally do that. Or maybe. They could influence the spread of information on the platform through its proprietary algorithm. Certainly the commies wouldn't know they would do that, too. They would totally do that as well. Of course, they probably are doing it now.

[00:10:02] Why do you think all of the transgender stuff is so prevalent on TikTok and the algorithm induces this stuff? It's like it's like there's this willful blindness that we are actually in a cold war against the Chinese. But it's like people have been lulled into this false sense of security because we trade with them. Thanks a lot, Clinton. But we trade. They're a favored nation trading status.

[00:10:31] So because we trade with them, it's totally different than previous adversarial relationships with communist countries. And it's not. In my estimation, it's not. We should not be dealing with them as we are dealing with them. Because the idea was that by trading with them, we're going to show them the benefits of the free market and a free society.

[00:10:57] And I fear the opposite has actually occurred where we are now being more influenced by their culture than they ours. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina, just a quick drive up the mountain? And Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion,

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[00:12:13] Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. So the U.S. government says that Chinese authorities could force the company to hand over TikTok, could force TikTok to hand over sensitive data on American users or influence the spread of information on the platform through its algorithm. TikTok says those concerns are overblown. And the law should be struck down because it violates the First Amendment,

[00:12:43] which, of course, it does not. It doesn't. The law just says you have to divest TikTok. It doesn't say people can't say stuff on TikTok. It says you're a foreign power. You don't tell people how your algorithm is disseminating this information. And you're not giving information on what you are turning over to the commies. It's amazing that this even has to be said, right? And look, I am a free market guy.

[00:13:13] I am. Because the free market is our natural state. The free market is you. The free market is me. And so I would prefer that companies be free to do what they, generally speaking, want to do. Except I am a realist. And I recognize that there are other nations on this planet that wish us harm,

[00:13:39] that would very much like to murder all of us, to kill all of us. That is true. That is absolutely. And we may want to deceive ourselves into thinking it's not true, but it most certainly is true. There are people, there are regimes, there are leaders, there are regular Joes that are all over this planet that would like nothing more than to see every American wiped off the face of the earth and this country destroyed. Okay?

[00:14:07] That's literally the reason why the U.S. federal government exists. It is a recognition that we are to provide for the common defense against other countries. Because what did Rush Limbaugh always say? The world is governed by the aggressive use of force. So we band together, we create a government, so we can repel that force and maybe use it to our own advantage every now and again.

[00:14:37] No. But seriously, that's why, I mean, this is all fundamental stuff. These are first order, like when you're setting up a government, this is why you do it. The, oh, and also, sorry, I forgot to point out. Rule number one about communists, they lie. Commies lie. So when TikTok says that these concerns are overblown, not that they are completely false, but just overblown, according to the AP.

[00:15:08] I don't believe them. Why? Rule number one. They lie. Communists lie. And here's a good indication that they are lying. That they're not actually interested in running a business per se, but that they are more interested in running a foreign intel gathering operation against American citizens and global citizens. Here's the giveaway.

[00:15:30] When presented with the option, as the law does, the law says you can divest this TikTok product from communist Chinese ownership under ByteDance, parent company. You can divest or it's going to be banned. And the company says we would rather it be closed down.

[00:15:55] We will shut down this company rather than sell it off and make billions of dollars for shareholders. That is not something that an actual free market would do. Right. Somebody, a company that's operating outside of the tentacles of a communist regime. That's not something they would do. They would say, OK, well, I mean, they would have done a lot of things differently up until this point. But here we are.

[00:16:22] And when presented with that option, they would say, well, of course, then we'll sell the company off. When the government says, hey, you're a monopoly, you got to spin off that company. What do American companies do? They spin off the company rather than go out of business. But in communist China. No, they would rather shut it all down. All right. I hope you had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around. Maybe y'all are in the living room.

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[00:17:50] Senator Marco Rubio, nominee for Secretary of State. He was in his confirmation hearing today as well. And related to this topic of TikTok and the forced divestment, thanks to the passage of a law that was bipartisan. Biden signed it into law. That's forcing ByteDance, the parent company, communist Chinese company, to sell off TikTok.

[00:18:19] Or else it loses access to the American market. Rubio had some comments today that I think are on point for this particular topic. Take a listen. If we stay on the road we're on right now, less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not.

[00:18:41] Everything from the blood pressure medicine we take to what movies we get to watch and everything in between, we will depend on China for it. They have come to dominate the critical mineral industry supplies throughout the world. Everywhere in the world they've now established critical mineral rights. Even those who want to see more electric cars, no matter where you make them, those batteries are almost entirely dependent on the ability of the Chinese and the willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to produce it and export it to you.

[00:19:08] So if we don't change course, we are going to live in a world where much of what matters to us on a daily basis, from our security to our health, will be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not. That's an unacceptable outcome. That's an unacceptable outcome. I agree with him.

[00:19:23] I agree with him.

[00:19:55] The Democrats are not exactly well known for suffering public redress of grievances from the citizens, you know. The measure is set to take effect January 19th, the day before a new term begins for President-elect Donald Trump, who, by the way, has just under 15 million followers on TikTok. And he says he wants to save TikTok. Now, Congress passed the measure, according to the Associated Press, as I mentioned, with bipartisan support.

[00:20:24] This was back in April. So almost a year ago, TikTok's lawyers challenged the law in court. They have been joined by users and content creators who say a ban would upend their livelihoods. And I get that. I totally understand that. TikTok came out and people were like, whoa, this is a Chinese Communist app. They're taking all this information. And people were like, I don't care. I'm making money.

[00:20:52] And so now they have built a livelihood. They built brands. They have these followings, which I'm sure are all totally really people. Not at all part of some algorithm that the Chinese are using to boost your reach or anything like that. But they say they're going to lose their livelihood, which I don't know if that's necessarily true. I think if you migrate over to a different platform, you probably would enjoy the same kind of success.

[00:21:20] But I get the scariness. Trust me. I have personal experience with this. I understand the scariness of making that kind of a move. TikTok says the national security concerns are based on inaccurate and hypothetical information. Right. It's hypothetical. You're just playing a what if game. Like, what if the communists want us all to perish? I mean, what if?

[00:21:50] But a unanimous appeals court panel made up of judges appointed by both Republicans and Democrats has upheld the law. The government's arguments were that the danger is real and the law's biggest effect is on the parent company of bite, parent company called ByteDance, a foreign corporation, which, by the way, as a foreign corporation, does not have First Amendment guarantees. It's a foreign corporation.

[00:22:21] Trump took the unusual step of filing court documents, asking the Supreme Court to put the law on hold so he could negotiate a deal for the sale of TikTok after he takes office. His position marked the latest example of him inserting himself into national issues before he takes office. Well, honestly, though, like, aren't we all kind of operating under the impression here that that Trump is is the leader?

[00:22:48] It would be different if Joe Biden were still, you know, young and full of vim and vigor. But he's not. And he hasn't been for a long time. And so the rest of the world recognizes like, OK, Trump's coming in. Joe Biden's already out to lunch. And so might as well just start dealing with him. I don't know about Trump inserting himself. But then again, they're claiming credit for this hostage release deal that Israel and Hamas just agreed to. And by the way, why did Hamas just agree to that?

[00:23:18] Because Joe Biden is out. He's leaving. And that was the impediment. Because as long as Joe Biden was in office, then they could just the Palestinian or the Hamas leadership could just hold out knowing that Joe Biden wouldn't lean on on them to get a deal done. Whereas Trump. Would.

[00:23:41] So the parent company, ByteDance, has previously said that it has no plans to sell to divest TikTok, though some investors are actually interested in buying it. One of the names I heard floated. Elon Musk. That Elon Musk. Like he apparently this is a real thing. He could very well go by like his 17000th company here. Trump met with TikTok CEO last month. Now, what are people doing?

[00:24:11] What are the TikTokers doing? Well, they'll show us. Right. They will not be impeded in their desire to have the communist Chinese have all of the information about them and from them. So they are now migrating over to Red Note is what it's called. This is an app from China called Red Note.

[00:24:33] And it has seen a surge of between 500 to 700,000 new users that joined over the last 48 hours. Slight issue. It's all in Mandarin. So there are people and they don't know what they're doing. Also, the the users there, these Chinese users have apparently been demanding a cat tax on Americans that have migrated from TikTok.

[00:25:03] What's a cat tax, Pete? Glad you asked. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know, I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place. So you can compare coverage and verify information.

[00:25:29] You can check it out at check dot ground dot news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot ground dot news slash Pete.

[00:25:56] Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15 percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. The cat tax. When people sign up for this new or it's not new when people migrate from tick tock over to another Chinese app called Red Note,

[00:26:23] the users of the Red Note app based in China, which is like a Chinese what? I love this. It's called by Reuters, a localized adaptation of Instagram, which means it was ripped off. They stole Instagram and they made and they just called it Chong Chong and that is the name of it, I think. Chong Chong and translates to Red Note, which actually. Yeah, really?

[00:26:51] It actually translates more to Little Red Book, which was Mao's book. Right. The Little Red Books of. The Chinese communist leader. Right. He had all his little sayings in it because he was oh, so smart. You know, the cat tax is now being used against these tick tock refugees. They're calling themselves and they're putting that hashtag in their bio.

[00:27:19] And so when they arrive on this Red Note app, which is a Chinese rip off of Instagram that's located in China. OK, this isn't even like a fake American company kind of a thing. Users are demanding their fellow users that migrate over when they find out they're American. They're like, show us pictures of your cat. People are they're being pressured into sharing photos of their cats. They're calling it a cat tax on this app.

[00:27:49] Look, I may post all sorts of pictures of a cat if I had one. I don't have any more. But. I would do that on my own. But if you're going to tell me to do it, pound sand, commie, I'm not giving you anything. I do acknowledge I have a bit of an anti-authority streak in me. All right. Here is Marco Rubio today. Another clip out of the triumphalism of the end of the long Cold War emerged the bipartisan consensus.

[00:28:17] And this consensus was that we had reached the end of history, that all of the nations of the world would now become members of the Democratic Western led community. That a foreign policy that served the national interest could now be replaced by one that served the liberal world order. And that all mankind was now destined to abandon national sovereignty and national identity and would instead become one human family and citizens of the world. This wasn't just a fantasy. We now know it was a dangerous delusion.

[00:28:47] Here in America and in many of the advanced economies across the world, an almost religious commitment to free and unfettered trade at the expense of our national economy shrunk the middle class, left the working class in crisis, collapsed our industrial capacity, and has pushed critical supply chains into the hands of adversaries and of rivals.

[00:29:07] An irrational zeal for maximum freedom of movement of people has resulted in a historic mass migration crisis here in America, but also around the world. It's one that threatens the stability of societies and of governments. Across the West, governments now censor and even prosecute domestic political opponents. Meanwhile, radical jihadists openly march in the streets and sadly drive vehicles into our people.

[00:29:36] While America far too often continued to prioritize the global order above our core national interests, other nations continue to act the way countries have always acted and always will in what they perceive to be their best interest. And instead of folding into the post-Cold War global order, they have manipulated it to serve their interests at the expense of ours. The post-war global order is not just obsolete.

[00:30:03] It is now a weapon being used against us. And all this has led to a moment in which we must now confront the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and of generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive and in this room today. All right. I completely agree. Oh, my goodness. How unprofessional. I forgot to mute my phone. Here's the other thing.

[00:30:29] When you use the Little Red Book app, Mao's modern incarnation, people have reported immediately getting spammed with phone calls as soon as they sign up and start posting on this Chinese Red Note app. Which should tell you something. That your information and you've given access to your phone, your microphone, your photos, your camera, all of it.

[00:30:57] What are you people doing? Are you stupid or something? Yes, that's the answer. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendorshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.