Bills are popping up in local municipalities and on the national level to begin banning apps like Tiktok and Whatsapp in an effort to silence politically active voices. The threat is real, especially to younger Black voters on social media.
Congress has proposed two separate bills to ban apps like Tiktok. They say it's because of security threats; however, similar or worse apps have been largely ignored. The U.S. government has a history of silencing our political activism, and it hasn't always been subtle.
From federal agencies targeting BLM protesters with excessive criminal charges to the brutal murder of a rising Black Panther member in Chicago and the arrests of activists like Robert Moses and John Lewis, this isn't the first time they've come for us and our political activism.
Forty-five percent of Millennials get their news and activism platforms from social media. That number rises to 50% for Gen Z. Cybernews suggests anyone engaging in political activism, primarily via social media, uses a virtual private network or VPN to protect themselves from federal intervention and censorship.
Supremacy wants to find new ways of silencing the primary forms of communication, news gathering, and political activism that Black folks use. No matter their moves, we will always continue to fight out loud. Let’s do so safely.