[jjcon]

Something worse? China and others bans almost every western social media company. Is the US not allowed to retaliate on those grounds alone? This bill only authorizes the banning of tech companies operated out of western enemy states: China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela (with a caveat).

The international economy is already not free (never has been), so I fail to see how this changes much other than shifting and clarifying some governmental powers. The US has banned Huawei telecommunications equipment, is this all that different other than the fact that it is much more public facing?

What makes the Chinese government problematic is not protectionism or even the great firewall, it is the genocide, the policing of criticism from all sources, the authoritarian single party rule.

[FooBarWidget]

You have the right to do all that, but you can't do all that and at the same time claim to be a morally superior, free and open society. Pick one: are your much-espoused values more important, or is revenge more important?

[jjcon]

> You have the right to do all that, but you can't do all that and at the same time claim to be a morally superior, free and open society.

Again... in matters of trade and foreign affairs no country (including the US) is completely free and open. I don't think anyone in the US has ever claimed to have completely open international trade policies so not even sure where you are getting that?

Just because this affects an app used by average people doesn't change the facts.

[not-chatgpt]

I don't know, but China is not posing fines up to $1M and threatening 20 years in prison + civil forfeiture to just run a VPN.

Also, are you saying genocides is not one of US's main export?

[jjcon]

> I don't know, but China is not posing fines up to $1M and threatening 20 years in prison + civil forfeiture to just run a VPN.

Good thing that isn't what is happening here