TikTok banned before KKK? Internet incredulous after Trump's move to shut down Chinese app but not hate group
Video sharing app TikTok has been in the news for the past couple of days as President Donald Trump declared that he plans to ban the Chinese-owned app across the country by signing an executive order. The move comes close on the heels of the app being at the receiving end of international furor over concerns about national security. "As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States. Well, I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order or that," Trump told reporters.
The move was expected this weekend and the internet is abuzz with people tearing down Trump for not prioritizing issues that matter more, for instance, a ban of the White supremacist group Ku Klux Klan. Here are some of the tweets posted on Twitter.
"Trump bans tik tok rather than making the kkk a terrorist organization like what is he even doing," tweeted a user.
Trump bans tik tok rather than making the kkk a terrorist organization like what is he even doing
— doge brando (@battedcoast547) August 2, 2020
"So Cheeto wants to ban TikTok but not the KKK. Make that make sense," tweeted another.
So Cheeto wants to ban TikTok but not the KKK.
— 👑 Queen Of The Ring 👑 (@queenoftheringg) August 1, 2020
Make that make sense.
"I want the kkk declared as a terrorist group before you even try to think about tik tok. America has so much other priorities right now and our president chose TIK TOK," wrote another user.
@WhiteHouse i want the kkk declared as a terrorist group before you even try to think about tik tok. America has so much other priorities right now and our president chose TIK TOK.
— Kayak is blessed by bears in trees (@ForestGlowing) August 2, 2020
"Instead of wasting time signing an executive order banning @tiktok_us, why don't you sign an executive order disavowed the KKK and labeling them a domestic terrorist organization? @realDonaldTrump," read a tweet.
Instead of wasting time signing an executive order banning @tiktok_us, why don't you sign an executive order disavowed the KKK and labeling them a domestic terrorist organization? @realDonaldTrump
— Coach Browe says #BLM (@mabrowe) August 2, 2020
For the uninitiated, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in a nutshell is an extremist hate group that believes all non-Caucasian people stand inferior to them. They also believe that the country should be free of drugs, homosexuality and immigration. The group was formed in 1865 and historically it's known that Black Americans have been their main target. However, more recently it has targeted Jews, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and even Catholics.
The KKK attend rallies and due to the United States Constitution's First Amendment, which relates to freedom of speech, their hate speech is legal, according to the Sun. The president in the past has referred to the Klan as "criminals and thugs" while singling the group out as repugnant, following a horrific car assault in Charlottesville, Virginia. A number of people died after a car plowed into peaceful counter-demonstrators at a White supremacist rally on August 12, 2017.