യുഎസിൽ ടിക്ടോക്കിനെ നിരോധിക്കുന്ന നിയമം ശരിവച്ച് സുപ്രീം കോടതി. ടിക്ടോക്കിന്റെ ചൈന ആസ്ഥാനമായുള്ള മാതൃ കമ്പനി ബൈറ്റ്ഡാൻസ് ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയോടെ പ്ലാറ്റ്‌ഫോം വിൽക്കുന്നില്ലെങ്കിൽ യുഎസിൽ ടിക് ടോക്ക് നിരോധിക്കപ്പെടും. യുഎസിൽ 170 ദശലക്ഷത്തിലധികം ഉപയോക്താക്കളുണ്ടെന്നാണ് ടിക്ടോക് അവകാശപ്പെടുന്നത്. നിരോധന നിയമം യുഎസ് ഭരണഘടന മുന്നോട്ടുവയ്ക്കുന്ന അഭിപ്രായ സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യ സംരക്ഷണത്തെ ലംഘിക്കുന്നെന്ന് ടിക് ടോക്ക് വാദിച്ചെങ്കിലും രാജ്യത്തെ പരമോന്നത കോടതി ആ വാദം ഏകകണ്ഠമായി നിരസിച്ചു.

ടിക് ടോക്ക് ആപ്പിന്റെ യുഎസ് പതിപ്പ് വാങ്ങാനായി ഒരാളെ കണ്ടത്തുക അല്ലാത്ത പക്ഷം ആപ്പ് സ്റ്റോറുകളിൽ നിന്നും വെബ് ഹോസ്റ്റിംഗ് സേവനങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നും നീക്കം ചെയ്യുക എന്നാണ് കോടതി നിലപാട്. തിങ്കളാഴ്ച അധികാരമേറ്റെടുക്കുന്ന ഡൊണാൾഡ് ട്രംപിന്റെ ഭരണകൂടമാണ് നിയമം നടപ്പിലാക്കേണ്ടതെന്ന് വൈറ്റ് ഹൗസ് പറഞ്ഞു. ഒട്ടും വൈകാതെ തന്നെ തീരുമാനമെടുക്കുമെന്ന് ട്രംപും അറിയിച്ചിരുന്നു.

ട്രംപിന്റെ സത്യപ്രതിജ്ഞാ ചടങ്ങിൽ ടിക് ടോക്ക് സിഇഒ ഷൗ സി ച്യൂപങ്കെടുക്കുമെന്ന് പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു. ആപ്പുമായി പ്രവർത്തിക്കാനും അത് യുഎസിൽ ലഭ്യമാക്കാനുമുള്ള ട്രംപിൻ്റെ പ്രതിബദ്ധതയ്ക്ക് സി ച്യൂ നന്ദി അറിയിച്ചിരുന്നു.

ചൈനീസ് സർക്കാരുമായുള്ള ബന്ധത്തെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള ആശങ്കകൾ കാരണം, ഡെമോക്രാറ്റിക്, റിപ്പബ്ലിക്കൻ നിയമനിർമ്മാതാക്കൾ കഴിഞ്ഞ വർഷമാണ് വീഡിയോ ഷെയറിംഗ് ആപ്പായ ടിക്ടോക് നിരോധിക്കാൻനിയമം പാസാക്കിയത്.എന്നാൽ ബീജിംഗിന് ഒരു വിവരവും കൈമാറുന്നില്ല എന്ന് ടിക് ടോക്ക് ആവർത്തിച്ച് വ്യക്തമാക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com

The US Supreme Court has upheld a law that bans TikTok in the US unless its China-based parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.

TikTok had challenged the law, arguing it would violate free speech protections for the more than 170 million users it says it has in the US.

But that argument was rejected unanimously by the nation’s highest court, meaning TikTok must now find an approved buyer for the US version of the app or face removal from app stores and web hosting services.

The White House said it would fall to incoming President Donald Trump’s administration, which takes office on Monday, to enforce the law. Trump vowed to make a decision in the “not too distant future”.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration with other high-profile guests, said he wanted to thank the incoming president for his commitment to work with the app and keep it available in the US.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.

Passed in April last year, the law allows TikTok owner ByteDance until 19 January 2025 to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.

It would mean that from Sunday, Apple and Google will no longer offer the app to new users or provide any security updates to current users – which could kill it off eventually.

ByteDance has vowed not to sell TikTok and said it planned to shut US operations of the app on Sunday unless there is a reprieve.

The Supreme Court ruled without any dissenting opinion that the law did not violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment protection of free speech.

The justices affirmed a lower court’s decision that upheld the statute after it was challenged by ByteDance.

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court said.

“But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”

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Pakistan — An International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis of data from the United States Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that 20 Christians have remained behind bars in Pakistan for a total of 134 years for the crime of blasphemy.

USCIRF is a U.S. governmental commission that monitors religious freedom rights abroad. Due to the secrecy surrounding many foreign governments, USCIRF maintains that “it is difficult to obtain, confirm, and verify comprehensive information about all victims. It is also impossible to capture all incidents of victimization.”

Between 2002 and 2023, the Christians were detained or imprisoned in separate cases for alleged crimes, including “insulting the Prophet Muhammad,” a crime punishable by death under Pakistani law, “desecrating the Quran,” and “intending to outrage religious feelings.” All 20 remain incarcerated to this day.

Ten of the 20 Christians have received their sentence, with nine being sentenced to death and one individual receiving life imprisonment. The other 10 remain jailed as they wait for verdicts in their cases. Though death sentences don’t result in actual executions in Pakistan, they leave the accused languishing in prison for years or even decades.

One of the Christians, Asif Pervaiz, reportedly sent a text message to his manager at a factory that was deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Pervaiz was detained in 2013 and sentenced in 2020. The court order in Pervaiz’s case, reportedly viewed by Reuters, stated that the Christian “shall be hanged by his neck till his death” for “misusing” his phone.

In another case, friends Adil Babar and Simon Nadeem, both teenagers at the time of their arrest in 2023, were detained for allegedly calling a dog “Muhammad Ali.” According to USCIRF, they were charged with “insulting the Prophet Muhammad” and are awaiting sentencing.

Christians often feel the brunt of Pakistan’s stifling laws against religious freedom. According to ICC’s new Global Persecution Index, its latest report on Christian persecution around the globe, Pakistan’s restrictions on religious freedoms are expanding and growing more oppressive.

“Despite years of international advocacy to overturn or soften these [blasphemy] laws, Pakistan has only doubled down on the law, with legislation to increase punishments for blasphemy passing handily in the legislature in 2023,” the report stated.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws allow authorities and mobs of Muslims to imprison, threaten, and attack Christians for their faith.

According to one ICC staffer, “The persecution of Christians in Pakistan, whether due to blasphemy or forced conversions, is increasingly common, and it often goes unpunished. Persecution will continue to increase until the persecutors are held accountable under the law.”
Sources:persecution

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The city council of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is pulling prayer from its meetings after a pagan priestess dedicated an invocation to Medusa last fall.

On Wednesday, councilors voted 8-1 to replace the opening prayer with a moment of silence or personal reflection, according to Public Radio Tulsa. It was noted in the report residents who previously signed up to give invocations at meetings will still be allowed to do so.

One councilor, Christian Bengel, abstained from the vote, arguing the spirit of the First Amendment of the Constitution centers on listening to things — including prayers — with which you might not agree.

Fellow Councilor Laura Bellis said she didn’t want the invocation to make any residents feel like their government did not represent them.

She said, “Of course, we have invocations where anyone can sign up of any faith for, but the one time they may be there, it usually is a Christian prayer, and may send the message that their government is not for them or they don’t belong.”

The impetus for the rule change arose in late November of last year, when then-Councilor Crista Patrick’s pagan priestess, Amy McAdams, delivered the opening invocation, during which she invoked Medusa, whom she described as the “monstrous hero of the oppressed and abused,” as well as “the Gorgonea, champions of equality and sacred rage.”

Of her decision to invite McAdams, Patrick said she “wanted to share one little part of myself before I left office,” calling the mythical Greek character Medusa “a fighter of injustice, especially for women.”

McAdams and Patrick were quickly rebuked for the invocation.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Ryan Walters, both of whom are openly Christian, accused McAdams of Satanism. The governor said Satan was “trying to establish a foothold” via McAdams’ invocation and called the Sooner State “a shining city on the hill,” referencing Matthew 5:14.

As for Bellis, she said she has been considering the rules change for years, but was motivated to push for it after the incident with Patrick and McAdams.

“That really gave the impetus to say, ‘I don’t want anyone to be in one of our government meetings and feel that what’s being shared is alienating to them or unwelcoming or infringing on their sincerely-held beliefs,’” she said.
Sources:faithwire

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