The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.7 The DEATH OF TIKTOK?! Bolsonaro Has COVID-19, Costco Freakout, Hong Kong, & MORE

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastard, hope you had a fantastic Tuesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And a quick thing, because I've seen this question pop up, why am I wearing hoodies in July? It's because I want to feel like I'm still in bed even though I'm working. That's the energy I'm working with right now as we've passed the halfway point of 2020.

Starting point is 00:00:15 But with that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're going to talk about today is the possibility of TikTok being banned in the United States. And I know a number of you are thinking to yourself, no, how am I supposed to keep track

Starting point is 00:00:29 of the Charli D'Amelio, Lil Huddy? One second. Cynthia Dixie, Griffin, Jaden, Josh, Nessa, Drama. All of these people have audiences that dwarf mine. I literally don't know what's happening. I've aged out y'all. I don't know what the hell that is. Like if there's a legal case or a political story,

Starting point is 00:00:46 send it my way. Otherwise, I know I just previously said a sentence, but none of the information computed. But truly we are looking at a situation where TikTok could possibly be banned. And the reason I say that is one, India recently banned the app. You have other countries like Australia

Starting point is 00:00:59 thinking about banning the app. Hell, in the United States back in March, we saw GOP senators introducing a bill to ban TikTok off of government devices. And now on top of all that, you have Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying last night that the Trump administration is looking into a ban on TikTok.

Starting point is 00:01:12 All of you viewers should know we're taking this very seriously. We're certainly looking at it. We've worked on this very issue for a long time, whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure, we've gone all over the world and we're making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security.

Starting point is 00:01:29 We've done all of these things with respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones. I can assure you the United States will get this one right too. I think they're looking at it, taking it very seriously, but also- I don't want to get in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at.

Starting point is 00:01:41 Also to the question of, should Americans download this app? You had Pompeo saying- Only if you want your private Also to the question of should Americans download this app, you have Pompeo saying, only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. And that said, in response to Pompeo's comments, you had a TikTok spokesperson saying, TikTok is led by an American CEO

Starting point is 00:01:53 with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the United States. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. And adding, we have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked. Also, it is worth noting that there is another layer

Starting point is 00:02:09 to this story regarding TikTok, and that is even before Pompeo spoke to Fox News, you had TikTok announcing that they would be pulling out of the Hong Kong market over fears over that new security law that we've been talking about. And according to TikTok, the app will be inoperable within Hong Kong in a few days, and they will also not be processing data requests

Starting point is 00:02:24 from China or Hong Kong police. And it seems like the changes are happening very fast because you already have some current residents saying that they cannot download the app. And like I said, notably, this announcement comes after Hong Kong authorities released new rules that are absolutely insane. Right, for example, if police suspect an electronic message

Starting point is 00:02:38 endangers national security, they can ask the publisher, platform, host, or network provider to remove or restrict access to it. Reportedly, companies who publish messages and don't remove the post face a huge fine and upwards of six months in jail, while those who actually made the post face upwards of a year in jail.

Starting point is 00:02:52 Also, according to multiple reports, the rules explicitly allow authorities to jail employees at internet companies that do not reply. And here's the kicker, the way it's written makes it seem like it applies worldwide. So, for example, if you're an employee at a company and you don't turn over data of someone from the United States that is endangering

Starting point is 00:03:07 Chinese national security, you could face a six month jail sentence in Hong Kong. Though you'd likely have to travel to Hong Kong first as it's likely that most countries will not extradite you for that. Also in Hong Kong, this is an incredibly big deal. And what I mean is it's not just TikTok that has responded to the new rules.

Starting point is 00:03:20 You have other tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Twitter all saying they would temporarily halt data requests from Hong Kong authorities as they decide what to do in the long run. With most of their statements being very similar. For example, you had Facebook saying, "'We are pausing the review of government requests "'for user data from Hong Kong,

Starting point is 00:03:33 "'pending further assessment of the national security law, "'including formal human rights due diligence "'and consultations with international human rights experts. "'We believe freedom of expression "'is a fundamental human right "'and support the right of people to express themselves "'without fear for their safety or other repercussions. Ultimately we'll have to see what happens there also in the United States and I guess also to turn this into a

Starting point is 00:03:51 business and creator story if you're on TikTok and you've garnered an audience and if you already didn't have enough reasons and there are plenty to try and grow off platform whether it be Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, whatever you should do it because there is a possibility that with TikTok this could be kind of a more political version of Vine, which of course died. A lot of creators there that were smart and were able to move their audiences, were able to thrive elsewhere. Then there are also people that completely failed or don't have careers as big as they probably could have

Starting point is 00:04:13 if they had moved people. But that said, question I want to pass off to you. What are your thoughts on this Charlie drama? I'm kidding. What are your personal thoughts on TikTok? Do you just completely not trust it? You do trust it, you use it, and you don't care about the security implications

Starting point is 00:04:27 because of security in general. I'd love to know your thoughts on this on those comments down below. And then let's knock out some quickies. We got the news that Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, a man who is easily one of the biggest COVID deniers in the world as far as world leaders go,

Starting point is 00:04:40 a man who when asked about 474 Brazilians dying in a day from COVID responded, "'So what? I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?' A man who when asked about 474 Brazilians dying in a day from COVID responded, "'So what? I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?' A leader who when asked, "'What would you say to Brazilians who have suffered "'through this pandemic?' replied, "'I regret all the dead, but it is everyone's destiny.'" And has referred to COVID-19 as a little flu,

Starting point is 00:04:57 has now tested positive for coronavirus. So you know, that's just a shame and you hate to see it. I'm definitely not being sarcastic. Then we had Amy Cooper in the news, remember her? She's a 41 year old woman, had her dog off the leash, has now been labeled Central Park Karen. This because a black man by the name of Christian Cooper, who was just bird watching in the park,

Starting point is 00:05:16 reportedly asked her to just put her dog on the leash. She responds by calling the police saying, "'A black man is threatening my life.'" And in addition to Amy being publicly shamed, she lost her job. Now, she has also been charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree. With this being a class A misdemeanor in New York,

Starting point is 00:05:31 that means Amy could be sentenced to one year in jail or three years probation. She's now set to be arraigned on October 14th and we'll have to wait to see what happens there. Then let's take a quick glimpse at Florida. You're coming close to me. I feel threatened. You're coming close to me.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Back door. Yes. Threaten me again. Yes. at Florida. I feel threatened! You're coming close to me. Back off! Dad. Threaten me again! Dad. Back the up or you're phone down. Yes sir, yes sir. According to Billy Corbin, who posted this clip that has now gone viral, this man was slipping out

Starting point is 00:05:56 on an elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask, also going after a man who defended her. Corbin going on to say that this actually happened on the 27th of last month, adding one of the customers targeted said, to give Costco the credit, they escorted him out "'and made me wait inside and monitored him until he left. "'And then they sent someone with me to the car "'to make sure I'm okay.'"

Starting point is 00:06:12 And also noting that man has now been identified as Daniel Maples. Reportedly he was an insurance salesman for Ted Todd Insurance. And I say was because Ted Todd Insurance tweeted out, "'Their behavior in the video is in direct conflict "'with our company values and their employment "'has been terminated.'"

Starting point is 00:06:24 And then let's talk about a big story involving college, college students, and immigration. So you may have seen headlines like this. International students must take classes in person to stay in the country legally this fall, ICE announces. And that has just led to this massive fear among international students as well as a lot of questions asking, you know, what does this really mean? How would this be implemented? And so let's try to break this down. I mean, first of all, it is tied to COVID-19, right? Earlier this year, we saw universities rapidly shutting down their in-person spring semesters

Starting point is 00:06:49 and switching to the online formats. Many of them have also now continued to do that into their summer semesters. And for both of these semesters, federal agencies have granted flexibility to international students. It's because existing requirements state that international students must take classes in person

Starting point is 00:07:01 and can only take a maximum of three credit hours online. So basically one class, but of course the big thing here, the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon here. In fact, in most states, the number of daily cases is actually rising. So with that, you have a large number of schools across the country debating whether or not

Starting point is 00:07:15 they should offer in-person classes for the fall. And they're also asking those federal agencies to extend the grace period for international students into the fall. But yesterday, what we ended up seeing is the Federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which is part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced, the US Department of State

Starting point is 00:07:29 will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and or programs that are fully online for the fall semester, nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. And adding, active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures,

Starting point is 00:07:45 such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences, including but not limited to the initiation of removal proceedings. And continuing, if students find themselves in this situation, they must leave the country or take alternative steps to maintain

Starting point is 00:08:01 their non-immigrant status, such as a reduced course load or appropriate medical leave. And notably, that announcement also requires universities to make a decision by July 15th. So just in a little over a week, they have to decide if they're gonna be fully open, partially open, right, some in-person, some online, or online only.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Right, so following this announcement, we saw Lisbeth Burroughs, an executive with the Association of American Universities, telling the Washington Post, "'What is just, to me, absolutely staggering "'is we have been asking for this guidance since April. Adding that universities now have just nine days to respond. And adding there's just tremendous concern

Starting point is 00:08:30 about trying to protect current students who are members of their communities and their educational investment. Also online, we've seen a lot of international students speaking out, some sharing links to petitions, others saying things like, "'And I thought the canceled flight, "'stress of finding last minute summer housing,

Starting point is 00:08:42 "'not being able to see my mom for over a year "'would be enough.. With no support system in the middle of a pandemic, this is all that was missing. I regret coming here for a better education. It's so cruel to uproot lives in the middle of a pandemic over reasons entirely beyond our control. Everything is so uncertain and I've never felt less like a human being. Also among other notable reactions, you had people asking what about schools that have already announced they'll be doing online only semesters this fall. For example, last week you had the University of Southern California announcing that almost all of its undergraduate fall courses will be held online. Also yesterday just hours before this announcement came down

Starting point is 00:09:11 We saw Harvard announcing that all of its courses for the full academic year will be taught online as well And in fact according to the Chronicle of Higher Education of about 1100 US colleges being tracked 9% plan to operate online and 24% have proposed a hybrid model. Though here you also had ICE saying that students planning to enroll in schools with hybrid models will be allowed to take more than one class online. This as long as the institutions file certifications with the agency. Right, but still with that you have a ton of students nationwide just scared shaless. Not sure they're gonna be issued visas if their schools don't revise plans to accommodate them. You also have people wondering how this move would affect graduate students who conduct research and teach classes.

Starting point is 00:09:44 With boroughs asking if their labs close and they're not able to work full time on dissertation research, do they have to leave the country? And adding, we know there are many PhD candidates who are involved in critical research to respond to this COVID pandemic. And what's even worse is, let's say this happens, right? You have students being denied visas.

Starting point is 00:09:58 You have a lot asking, well, how am I even supposed to get back home? Right, there are a number of countries that currently have travel restrictions, some of which even apply to those with student visas. You also have people arguing this is just an economically stupid decision. This because, and not to commodify international students

Starting point is 00:10:10 here, but during the 2018-2019 academic year, international students reportedly contributed $41 billion to the US economy and supported almost 460,000 jobs. And it's not like we're just talking about a small group here. According to federal data, 1.1 million people in the United States hold active student visas.

Starting point is 00:10:25 So that's why you have people like immigration lawyer, Fiona McEntee, saying that losing foreign students would be a huge blow to university budget. With Fiona adding, if students can study online successfully from an academic point of view, why are we forcing them to come into a situation where they could put their health at risk and also the health of their classmates at risk?

Starting point is 00:10:41 But ultimately, that is where we are with this story as of right now. It is gonna be very interesting to see what happens. What's gonna happen with the students? What are we gonna see from the colleges? For now, we're gonna have to wait and see, but of course, in those comments down below, I would love to know your thoughts on this one.

Starting point is 00:10:52 And then, let's talk about the major ruling that came out regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. Now, it's been a while since we talked about this pipeline, so to give you a refresher, the Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172 mile oil pipeline that runs from North Dakota to Illinois, and it transports about 570,000 barrels of oil per day. It has also faced a lot of opposition, right?

Starting point is 00:11:10 You have environmental groups opposing it, as well as members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation is around a mile from the pipeline, which runs under Lake Oahe, which is a reservoir on the Missouri River. That river is one of the tribe's main sources of water, and they fear that the pipeline could pollute it, which is why back in 2016 and 2017,

Starting point is 00:11:26 there were numerous protests against it as well as various court battles. We ended up seeing something of an initial victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe back in 2016 when the Army Corps of Engineers who permitted the pipeline said that they would not build under the river. But over a month later, President Trump signed a memorandum

Starting point is 00:11:39 to advance construction of the pipeline shortly after taking office. And so by June of 2017, oil begins running through it and pretty much has ever since. But now we're seeing something that at the very least will temporarily change this. United States District Judge James E. Boasberg has now ruled that within the next 30 days,

Starting point is 00:11:53 the Dakota Access Pipeline must shut down pending review. With Judge Boasberg writing, "'Defendant, US Army Corps of Engineers "'had violated the National Environmental Policy Act "'when it granted an easement "'to defendant intervener Dakota Access LLC to construct and operate a segment of that crude oil pipeline running beneath the lake.

Starting point is 00:12:09 And adding, this was because the Corps had failed to produce an environmental impact statement despite conditions that triggered such a requirement. With Boasburg also acknowledging that the court is fully aware that there could be consequences to this, adding, even with the currently low demand for oil, shutting down the pipeline

Starting point is 00:12:22 will cause significant disruption to DAPL, the North Dakota oil industry, and potentially other states. But then continuing, yet, given the seriousness of the Corps' National Environmental Policy Act error, the impossibility of a simple fix, the fact that Dakota Access did assume

Starting point is 00:12:36 much of its economic risk knowingly, and the potential harm each day the pipeline operates, the court is forced to conclude that the flow of oil must cease. Right, so the court is asking that the US Army Corps of Engineers reassess the environmental impacts that the pipeline could have and prepare an impact statement. And per this ruling, the pipeline must remain shut down pending the review. There, in fact, Judge Boasberg actually ordered a review back in March. Right now with this ruling, this whole process is expected to last around 13 months. And so right now, while this ruling could still be appealed, it is being considered a massive

Starting point is 00:13:04 victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and environmental activists. It's why you've had leaders celebrating like Mike Faith chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe releasing a statement calling this a historic day saying This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning. However on the other side of this you had energy transfer partners who controls the pipeline releasing a statement as well saying that the ruling is not supported by law or the facts of the case adding we believe that judge Boasberg has exceeded his authority in ordering the shutdown of the Dakota access pipeline Which has been safely operating for more than three years and arguing the economic Implication of the judges orders are too big to ignore and we will do all we can to ensure its continued Operation billions of dollars in tax and royalty revenue will be lost by state local and tribal governments in North Dakota

Starting point is 00:13:43 South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois farmers will suffer as crude transportation will move to rail state, local, and tribal governments in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. Farmers will suffer as crude transportation will move to rail displacing corn, wheat, and soy crops that would normally be moved to market. And according to Hasselman, they filed an appeal just last night. Though, once again, as of right now, it does appear that the shutdown will happen.

Starting point is 00:13:58 That, in part, because as I was recording today's show, we saw a federal judge rejecting a request for an emergency order to delay the process of shutting it down. And that is where I'm going to end today's show And hey, as always thank you for being a part of these daily dives in the news I feel less crazy because we get to go through it as a community and also more specifically Thank you

Starting point is 00:14:12 Not only for watching but liking the video sharing with friends and family being a part of that conversation in the comments down below Also, if you're new here definitely hit that subscribe button and tap that bell to turn on notifications So you don't miss these daily dives into the news. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in, I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you liked this video. Subscribe if you like it.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.7 The DEATH OF TIKTOK?! Bolsonaro Has COVID-19, Costco Freakout, Hong Kong, & MORE

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