Amid the US House of Representatives passing a bill this week that would ban TikTok, Bill Maher wasted no time on Friday in sharing his thoughts on the controversial issue.
To start the latest episode of HBO real timethe host joked during his monologue, “China, you know, you can produce everything we use, but to keep our kids stupid, that’s our job.”
The bill, passed in the House by a vote of 352-65, would lead to a nationwide ban on the popular video app if its China-based owner ByteDance does not sell it. Lawmakers have raised concerns that the company’s current ownership structure poses a national security threat. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the measure if Congress passes it, but the bill must first pass the Senate.
later on real timeDuring his conversation with Republican Rep. Nancy Mays and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, Maher brought up the topic again, saying he thinks the country has bigger problems than TikTok right now.
He also pointed out how members of Congress voted to pass the “pretty hefty” bill, yet some politicians such as Mace, Khanna, Donald Trump, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Representative Marjorie Taylor The Greens – who are all in favor of passing the bill. The political corridor has expressed its opposition.
“Explain to me why the people who are lining up against the bill and against signing it, you know, are saying, ‘No, we can keep TikTok sugar.’ What is the common ground there?” Maher asked.
Khanna replied. “I mean, it shows how out of touch Congress is with all the issues of the country, the only thing we can do in three days is ban TikTok. Is that the problem?”
He added that Congress should consider passing a “data privacy law” instead.
Mace also said, “It’s a First Amendment issue. I think it’s probably a Fifth Amendment issue. It’s not the government’s role to ban apps from the App Store and websites.
While Maher agreed that he is also a “free speech person,” he later expressed that there is a bigger issue in Congress that should be focused on, and that is artificial intelligence.
“I’m very concerned about AI,” the host said. “I mean, I heard you. [Khanna] Say this week that you think this country’s first billionaire is going to be an AI entrepreneur. That’s scarier than any of that to me, the idea of a trillionaire and it also comes from AI. And by the way, the US State Department said this week, worst-case scenario, this [AI] There is an extinction-level threat to the human species.
Maher continued, “You know, we see all these flaws in it and it doesn’t stop us at all. It’s like an arms race and we’re the guinea pigs. Remove bugs they shouldn’t have been designed to eliminate? A little?”
Concerns around the use of artificial intelligence also emerged as a major sticking point in writers’ and actors’ strikes last year. It has been a hot-button issue in other industries, as well as in Hollywood, regarding the threats it poses to jobs.
Former US Attorney General Eric Holder was also a guest. real time During a one-on-one interview on Friday.