AFP

TikTok faces ban in Montana as US backlash continues

The US state of Montana is set to pass a proposal for a complete ban on TikTok. The law, which would take effect in 2024, would be unprecedented in the United States and test the legal waters for a national ban of the Chinese-owned app.

Under the proposed law, Apple and Google would have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies would face daily fines of $10,000 if found in violation.

The move is part of a battle of wills between TikTok and the US government, with the White House having already issued an ultimatum that the app must split from its Chinese owners or stop operating in America.

However, legal challenges are likely, with the proposed ban potentially going all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington.

Published

2 years ago

14 April 2023

The Online Citizen

by Alex Pigman

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — The US state of Montana on Thursday was on the verge of implementing a total ban on TikTok, after a proposal passed a key hurdle in the state’s legislature.

Montana’s Republican-dominated lower house overwhelmingly voted for a complete ban on the popular Chinese-owned app, with a final vote set for Friday before it goes to the state’s governor to become law.

If signed, the law would be unprecedented and test the legal waters for a national ban of the Chinese-owned app, a fate that is increasingly being called for in Washington.

TikTok, despite its immense popularity, is caught in a battle of wills with US government and politicians, and now faces an ultimatum by the White House that it split from its Chinese owners or stop operating in America.

“We are facing a threat unlike any other from the Chinese Communist Party hiding behind TikTok where they can spy on Americans by collecting personal information by keystrokes and even user locations,” said Representative Brandon Ler, defending the Montana bill.

It passed by 60 votes for and 39 against.

In a surprise move, a last minute amendment to expand the ban to US social media only narrowly failed passage, 48 for and 51 against.

Under the proposed law, Apple and Google would have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies will face daily fines of US$10,000 if found in violation.

The proposed ban would take effect in 2024, but faces almost certain legal challenges, given its unprecedented nature in the United States, possibly going all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington.

“I think there are a lot of ramifications, not the least of which is how you would do it,” said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias.

“It is hard to see how the state would be able to defend it and win,” Tobias told AFP.

When an earlier version of the bill passed in the Montana senate, TikTok decried a “disastrous precedent” that would have “serious consequences”, especially on TikTok creators and Montana businesses that use the app.

“This piece of legislation is an egregious violation of Montanans’ free speech rights, and it will close off Montana from the 150 million strong TikTok community in the United States,” said TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter at the time.

‘Don’t care’

Free speech advocates also opposed the legislation.

“Passing this legislation would flout the First Amendment and would trample on Montanans’ constitutional right to freedom of speech,” said a letter to Montana lawmakers from the ACLU and other associations.

Montana’s turn of the screws on TikTok comes as the app faces several hard-hitting, but legally tenuous, proposals of national legislation – including one bill backed by the White House that could pave the way for a ban of the app.

“Part of the problem is that politicians don’t have to care about what happens after they’ve passed the law,” said Ari Cohn, free speech counsel at TechFreedom, a think tank.

“They’re all too happy to consider legislation that will get easily struck down by the courts. It’s just the nature of politics, unfortunately,” he told AFP.

AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

Published

1 year ago

26 July 2023

The Online Citizen

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

Published

1 year ago

25 July 2023

The Online Citizen

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP