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Congress hasn’t agreed on much lately, but one they seem to be locked in on is TikTok’s threat to national security, so it’s no surprise the bill that could potentially lead to its banning passed.
Congress passed the bill on Tuesday, April 23. It calls for a national ban on TikTok if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, can’t find a buyer.
As promised, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on Wednesday, April 24. This gives the company nine months with a three-month grace period to secure a deal for the platform.
The U.S. government has been wary of the app since the Trump administration because of potential national security concerns related to its Chinese ties.
Security experts and lawmakers have been raising the red flag about the popular app kids use to partake in viral dance choreography and share hilarious videos because they feel the Chinese government can use ByteDance to access the 170 million U.S. users’ private information or spread propaganda.
It Will Be An Uphill Battle To “Ban” TikTok
While many are reacting to the news with the inclination that the ban will go into effect immediately, the new law could take months, possibly years, to get TikTok up outta here.
Per The New York Times:
The law would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States if ByteDance sold it within 270 days, or about nine months, a time frame that the president could extend to a year.
The measure is likely to face legal challenges, as well as possible resistance from Beijing, which could block the sale or export of the technology. It’s also unclear who has the resources to buy TikTok, since it will carry a hefty price tag.
The issue could take months or even years to settle, during which the app would probably continue to function for U.S. consumers.
TikTok Vows To Fight The Ban
Of course, TikTok vows to fight. Chief executive Shou Chew said in a video, “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts.”
We shall see.
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It is clear celebrity does not shield you from bullying. Jelly Roll’s wife has confirmed he has quit Instagram due to fat-shaming.
As reported on TMZ, the popular country music talent has been noticeably absent from social media over the last couple of weeks. While high profile musicians are known to take breaks online, his better half has revealed his lack of posts has been intentional. Bunnie XO explained why Jelly Roll has taken a step back from social apps on her Dumb Blonde podcast. “My husband got off the internet because he is so tired of being bullied about his f***ing weight. And that makes me want to cry, because he is the sweetest angel baby,” she said. “My husband doesn’t show it to you guys, but I’m gonna have a very vulnerable moment here—it hurts him.”
She went on to point to the hypocrisy that comes along with fame and fortune. “The internet can say whatever the f*** they want about you, and they say, ‘Well, you’re a celebrity, you’re supposed to be able to handle it.’ No the f*** we’re not. … Enough is enough,” she explained. Bunnie also urged the public to be more sensitive to everyone’s feelings. “Don’t bully people, because you never know where they are mentally,” she added. “There are a lot of people who are not as strong as me, that are on the internet, and they don’t deserve to f***ing be bullied.”
In 2023, Jelly Roll won the New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards. Earlier this year, he took home three awards at the CMT Music Awards. Prior to singing country music he was a rapper and released multiple projects under the same moniker. The couple wed back in 2016. You can see Bunnie XO discuss things below.
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A reporter caught Donald Trump dozing off during his Manhattan “hush money” trial again, and social media was quick to poke fun at him.Former president Donald Trump was back in the Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 16) for the jury selection in his “hush money” trial involving adult film star Stormy Daniels. But the proceedings seemed to have a different toll on Trump, as a reporter in the courtroom observed him falling asleep. Frank G. Runyeon, who is covering the trial for the legal analysis website Law360, detailed the septuagenarian’s slumber in steps in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Trump’s head slowly dropped, his eyes closed. It jerked back upward,” Runyeon wrote. “He adjusts himself. Then, his head droops again. He straightens up, leaning back. His head [droops] for a third time, he shakes his shoulders. Eyes closed still. His head drops. Finally, he pops his eyes open.” Other reporters present in the courtroom also noticed Trump’s nodding off, which some noted lasted a minute or more.
The moment caught on like wildfire on social media, with the hashtag #SleepyDonald rising in the trending categories. Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers and a frequent spokesperson, dismissed the idea as a “remarkable story at best,” before adding: “There were a tremendous amount of emotions being heard yesterday. I wasn’t there so I can’t comment on that. I find that to be a ridiculous thought though.” Trump himself has bragged that he doesn’t need a lot of sleep in the past. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times also pointed it out, also noting that he dozed off in court on Monday (April 15).
Trump’s sleepiness was still a hot topic on the court’s off day on Wednesday (April 17), with one expert stating to The Daily Beast that the significance of the trial as he is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election is weighing on him. “Anyone that is on the campaign trail and fighting all these indictments against him might not be sleeping well,” said Dr. Chris Winter, a sleep expert and advisor to Mattress Firm.
We’ve collected some of the more colorful responses to Trump’s snoozing moment on social media below.
1. Ron Filipkowski
2. Jon Cooper
3. TruthHurts
4. Victoria Brownworth
5. Ron Waxman
6. Marc A Caputo
7. Santa Claus, CEO
8. Janey Vee
9. We The Sheeple
Lil Tay has ignited a feud with JoJo Siwa on X (formerly known as Twitter), in response to an alleged tweet liked by Siwa.
“.@itsjojosiwa You’re a scary ass bitch if you have something too (sic) say about me, say it & this time DON’T delete your comment or unlike shady tweets!” 16-year-old Lil Tay wrote. “Don’t let those paid YouTube views and botted Spotify streams get to your head Madonna from dollar tree a— b—-.”
.@itsjojosiwa You’re a scary ass bitch if you have something too say about me, say it & this time DON’T delete your comment or unlike shady tweets!Don’t let those paid YouTube views and botted Spotify streams get to your head Madonna from dollar tree ass bitch.— Lil Tay (@LilTaybepoppin) April 16, 2024
Tay’s tweet is a reaction to an alleged tweet in Siwa’s “likes” history calling the “Sucker 4 Green” star “pathetic” and a “meme,” adding that the two aren’t comparable. Siwa has yet to respond.
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Siwa is fresh off the release of her new single “Karma.” During an interview on SiriusXM’s Hits 1 Miami With Mack & Jen, Siwa clarified the comments she made in a viral video interview with Billboard, saying she simply wants to see more queer art get recognized. “So, here’s the thing — ‘gay pop’ is a thing that people have done, but it is not an official genre of music,” she explained. “It is a style, but it is how there’s rap, there’s rock, there’s R&B, there’s pop — if you look on the iTunes charts … this should be a literal genre of music.”
The 20-year-old originally spoke about the concept of “gay pop” during an interview with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly about her new song “Karma,” when she claimed that she told her label (Columbia Records) that she “wanted to start a new genre … called ‘gay pop.’” Commenters quickly called out the singer for claiming to have created a “genre” that has existed for years.
Trending on Billboard
In a later interview with TMZ, Siwa clarified that she didn’t intend to say that she “invented” the concept of “gay pop” music. “I am not the inventor of gay pop, for sure not. But I do want to be a piece of making it bigger than it already is,” she said. “I’m not the president [of gay pop], but I might be the CEO, or the CMO. I can be the CMO, the chief marketing officer, and use my marketing tactics whether people like it or not.”
Elsewhere in her interview on SiriusXM, Siwa responded to the ongoing backlash to her comments. “I could say I want world peace, and everyone would be like, ‘How dare you want peace for the world!’” she said. “People ask me all the time, they’re like, ‘Do you feel like you have to be very careful about what you say?’ And I’m like, ‘No, because no matter what I say, it’s going down anyways.’”
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / X
If you got a blue checkmark courtesy of X, Elon Musk wants the world to know so.
Spotted on The Verge, premium X users are finding out they can no longer hide their blue checkmarks and are sharing a notification they are receiving informing them of the new X, formerly Twitter policy.
Last summer, Elon Musk’s lame version of Twitter made showing your blue checkmark optional after X introduced a new subscription feature, giving subscribers the once highly coveted sign that they were part of an elite group.
It’s unclear why X is now doing it, but the timing comes after many celebrities and notable people who vowed to never pay for X to keep their blue checkmarks, now have them after X began “gifting” subscriptions to users with high numbers of verified users.
Those users who received their blue checkmarks began hiding them after announcing to their followers that they had not paid for them.
So this feels like Elon Musk being a douchebag and telling his team to make that move to spite those people who are spiting him and his company.
The social media formerly known as Twitter has been a hot mess since Elon Musk reluctantly purchased it. He changed the name and then rolled out the subscription platform, which was immediately abused by scammers who used to verify fake accounts and fool people.
Some people with blue checkmarks became the target of online harassment and mass blocking before giving users with more than a million followers blue checkmarks.
X is an ongoing mess, but we will stick beside it until the wheels fall off like everyone else.
Billie Eilish may have just pioneered an incredibly effective social media growth tactic with one simple move on Instagram.
According to CrowdTangle, the 22-year-old pop star gained 7 million new followers in just a two-day span. The spike comes after Eilish added all 100-million-plus followers to her “Close Friends” Story, where she’s been posting cryptic teasers for her upcoming third studio album this week.
The data tracking company found that, between Wednesday (April 3) and Thursday (April 4), 3.17 million people pressed “Follow” on the “What Was I Made For?” singer’s account in order to join her exclusive Story-viewing pool. Between Thursday and Friday (April 5), 3.9 million more users tagged along.
In total, Eilish saw a growth of 6.4% on the platform.
The posts the singer has been sharing on her Close Friends outlet have included fuzzy fragments of artwork, most of them awash in blue hues. The aesthetic of the pictures matches certain billboards that have popped up in New York and Los Angeles this week, displaying what many fans feel certain are lyrics from Eilish’s next LP.
Trending on Billboard
One of them, for instance, blasted in bright blue lettering, “She’s the headlights I’m the deer.” Others read, “I try to live in black and white,” and “Did I cross the line?”
The nine-time Grammy winner hasn’t dropped an album since 2021’s Happier Than Ever, which followed her 2019 debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Both records spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Ahead of her new era, Eilish spoke about her sustainability efforts in an interview with Billboard. After one of her quotes from the article about the wastefulness of releasing too many vinyl variants was misinterpreted by countless fans online, she took to Instagram Stories to clarify, “I wasn’t singling anyone out.”
“These are industry-wide systemic issues,” she added at the time. “when it comes to variants, so many artists release them – including ME! which i clearly state in the article.”
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / X / Elon Musk
It looks like Elon Musk’s X is giving blue checks back to the platform’s most popular users, and they are like, thanks, but no thanks.
Overnight, Elon Musty’s X, formerly Twitter, “gifted” premium subscriptions to some users on X, mainly those who vowed never to pay for the subscription service that gave users the “blue check,” along with access to other premium features.
Musk confirmed in a post on his bootleg platform that this is the case, writing, “Going forward, all 𝕏 accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free, and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free.”
Those who have gotten their blue checkmarks back to their names are taking to the platform to let their followers know they are still ten toes down on their initial stance and did not give Bootleg Tony Stark any money to get back their checks.
Acadmey Award-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright was one of those users who expressed that sentiment, sharing a screenshot of a notification from X that he was getting his complimentary subscription to X Premium.
In the caption for the post, he wrote, “Pay $8? Kidding. Help me. But don’t say anything too free speechy about me or my Garbage Tower of Babel shitsite.”
Netflix’s Good Times star also spoke on the matter, writing, “What happened? I didn’t pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this. When did the Blue Check mark start getting passed around again?!
Actor Mark Hamill, aka our guy Luke Skywalker, responded to Brown’s post, “I didn’t pay when it went away, & really didn’t care. Then, out of nowhere, it mysteriously reappeared. #whatever.”
Well, the sentiment remains thanks, but no thanks.
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If social media has taught us anything in the last decade and more, it’s that there are a lot of creeps and weirdos out here on all sides. A woman on X had to protect her account after essentially cosigning sexual assault and homophobia in a two-for-one tweet, prompting others to call her She Diddy.
She Diddy began trending early Thursday (April 4) morning after X user @themdolll tweeted some thoughts that somehow got connected to some other recent happenings involving Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The tweet, which X user @ScamFisher screengrabbed, reads as follows:
once i reach fa that dic & you move my hand u can get tf on gay ass ngga
X user @FirstName_Alan quoted @themdolll’s tweet, writing in the quotes, “It’s called consent She Diddy” and all hell broke loose from there.
Since that exchange, She Diddy has gone viral, seeing Combs’ nickname repurposed once again in an unfortunate fashion. In recent times, the phrase “No Diddy” has cropped up which seemingly has a homophobic bent although it appears it isn’t dominating the conversations of late.
As it stands, fans and onlookers are more aware than ever of the specter of sexual assault in the wake of Diddy’s recent legal issues. Further, it’s revealed that some people have some zany views about consent, assault, sexuality, and conduct. Adding to this, Diddy has his fair share of defenders along with those who wish to see his downfall in connection to the mounting allegations he faces.
Perhaps not wanting that image on her jacket, @themdolll has since made her X page private so we don’t know if there have been any other statements or responses to her earlier quip.
Check out the reactions under the X trending topic She Diddy below.
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Photo: Prostock-Studio / Getty
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Source: Ivan Pantic / Getty / Black Twitter
Unsurprisingly, there is a documentary about Black Twitter, but actual Black Twitter, or Black X, should we call it that? Nah, we’re going to stick with the original name, is on the skeptical side about who is involved.
The docuseries from former Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny coming to Hulu is not even out yet. Still, a trailer for it is being met with an enormous amount of skepticism due to the people who will be involved and speaking about the influential and popular subsection of Twitter, now unfortunately known as X, thanks to Elon Musk.
According to a press release. The series will take its cues from Jason Parham’s 2021 Wired cover story, “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” and “charts the rise, movements, voices, and memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life.”
To help break down Twitter subsection’s rise to popularity and eventually carry the social media platform on its back will be Roxane Gay, Jemele Hill, Sam Jay, Amanda Seales, Kid Fury, April Reign, Raquel Willis, Apple Music’s LowKey, Chris Foxx aka @FoxxFiles, and more.
The Reactions To The Black Twitter Docuseries Are Already Pouring In
Therein lies the issue: many feel many people are being left out in this docuseries and are giving it the mean side-eye.
One X user wrote, “The real meat and potatoes of Black Twitter is everyday people. Not B-list Black celebrities and pseudo intellectual Talking Heads.”
Fair.
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Another user on X pointed out just how crazy this debate is, writing in the post, “Black Twitter arguing over whether that Black Twitter documentary is gonna include all the right people and topics, is the most Black Twitter thing ever.”
Prentice Penny also got involved in the debate, adding: “I’d like to think after 20 years of holding the culture down, y’all would trust I got #blacktwitterhulu best interest in mind. But lowkey, I also love black Twitter mad hesitant and petty ’bout it, too! LOL!”
When this documentary arrives on Hulu on Thursday, May 9, it seems likely that there will be a lot of hate-watching and live tweeting.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Damn, that’s how y’all feel?
2. The video, lol
3. She’s right
4. Good chance they are going to be hate-watching
5. Always late to the party.
6. Very accurate
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Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty / TikTok
Content creators might want to start working on their Instagram Reels skills after the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that could end TikTok’s run in the United States.
In a rare act of bipartisanship, the House agreed on a measure calling for TikTok’s owner, the Chinese-owned company ByteDance, to divest the TikTok app or risk a US ban.
The bill passed with an eye-opening 352-65 vote and one member voting present, but it still faces uncertainty when it reaches the Senate.
Per CNBC:
The legislation, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was introduced March 5 by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Two days later, House members on the Energy and CommerceCommittee voted unanimously to approve the bill, which refers to TikTok as a threat to national security because it is controlled by a foreign adversary.
The bill now heads to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future as senators appear divided about the legislation, and other federal and state-led efforts to ban TikTok have stalled.
TikTok Repsonds To The Bill Passing The Senate
As expected, the folks at TikTok were not happy about the developments.
“This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a spokesperson for TikTok said after the vote was passed. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”
President Joe Biden has already expressed that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Ironically, President Biden has an official TikTok account that his administration created in February as part of his re-election campaign.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration would provide “technical support” in crafting the bill and noted in a March 6 briefing, “It’s on legal standing, and it’s in a place where it can get out of Congress, then the President would sign it.”
The House claims the bill “does not ban TikTok” and demands ByteDance to divest from TikTok within 6 months” “to remain available in the United States.”
If the bill passes its final hurdle and gets Biden’s signature, Apple, Google, and other internet-hosting companies can no longer support TikTok or any other ByteDance apps.
Donald Trump Thinks He’s Slick
While most lawmakers agree that TikTok threatens the country’s national security, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump feels otherwise.
In an interview with CNBC, he claims that getting rid of TikTok would only make Facebook and Instagram’s owner Meta more powerful.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump claims.
His comments are hypocritical because, in 2020, he signed an executive order banning TikTok and WeChat “transactions” and eventually giving his approval of a $10 billion and $30 billion acquisition involving Microsoft that eventually fell through.
The Biden Administration would revoke his executive orders.
Content Creators Are BIG MAD
Content Creators are BIG MAD about the ruling and were present at Capitol Hill to let lawmakers know that this ban will affect their livelihoods.
Social media is also reacting to the news, and can’t believe the only thing lawmakers can agree on is that allowing a company possibly owned by the Chinese communist party company access to your data is bad, while other pressing issues like the minimum wage, “border crisis,” inflation, which is cooling, but still high in some areas due to various reasons, health care remains unsolved.
Remember that the GOP controls the House of Representatives and decides what bills come to the floor.
Just saying.
Anyway, TikTok has even reached out to its followers in anticipation of the bill passing the House.
We shall see if the Senate agrees with the House on the matter; there is no guarantee that this will happen.
You can see more reactions to TikTok’s possible banning below.
2. Howling
3. Fair question. But lets direct this question to the Republicans in the House who think thoughts and prayers are effective gun control measures.
4. They can always bring the content to Instagram Reels
5. Damn, we are doomed.
6. The TikTok debate has been going on since 2020. So we can’t say this accurate.
7. We’re not opposed to Trump being banned.
8. He is singing a different tune, so maybe they already did.
