RESTRICT ACT: Is it really a TikTok ban?

Sen. Lindsey Graham was unable to explain why controversial federal powers were slipped into the RESTRICT Act, a bill co-sponsored by the Republican lawmaker that was sold to the public as a TikTok ban.

Jesse Watters interviewed Graham on Wednesday night’s episode of “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Fox News, and the media personality interviewed Graham after raising civil liberty concerns regarding the RESTRICT Act’s potential for locking up political opponents based on wrongthink.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier this week said that the RESTRICT Act gives the federal government unprecedented power to surveil and arrest American citizens, Valiant News reported.

“This bill would give enormous and terrifying new powers to the federal government to punish American citizens and regulate how they communicate with one another,” Carlson said.

Senate passes RESTRICT ACT

Biden Admin Backs Bipartisan Bill That Allows U.S. to Battle Foreign Threats Including Popular Social Media App

On Tuesday afternoon, the administration of President Joe Biden announced its backing for a bipartisan bill proposed by a group of senators. The proposed legislation would enable the United States to prohibit TikTok and take measures against other foreign adversaries.

A group of 12 bipartisan senators, led by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), who serves as the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who is the ranking member of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, have introduced the RESTRICT Act. This bill aims to limit the emergence of security threats that pose a risk to information and communications technology.

Under the proposed legislation, the Department of Commerce would be granted the authority to examine, stop, and lessen the potential hazards to the United States' economic and national security caused by information communications and technology (ICT) transactions.

The bill