Texas Weekly Online

Trump’s ultimatum to federal workers: Return to office ‘or be terminated’

Trump’s ultimatum to federal workers: Return to office ‘or be terminated’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that federal employees must return to in-person work by early February or “be terminated,” the latest in a string of actions announced by the new administration as it looks to crack down on remote work.  Trump addressed the changes Wednesday at the White House shortly before signing into law the immigration-focused Laken Riley bill. Asked about the new requirements for federal workers, Trump said, “We’re requiring them to show up to work or be terminated.” WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING His remarks come just hours after the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, began emailing roughly 2 million federal employees on Tuesday, offering them the equivalent of a buyout if they do not return to in-person work within a specified time frame.  Employees have until Feb. 6 to decide whether to take the buyouts, OPM said, noting that most employees will be required to show up in person five days a week. Those who choose not to continue their roles in person would be provided with what the email said would be a “dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program.” Employees who resign were also told they will retain all pay and benefits regardless of workload and will be exempt from in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025. “We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and, therefore, our government will get smaller and more efficient,” Trump told reporters of the plan Wednesday. “And that’s what we’ve been looking to do for many, many decades.” ‘GET BACK TO WORK’: HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS  He also suggested federal employees may be asked to “prove” they did not have another job during the period of remote work, a difficult issue to correct for given that an estimated 8.6 million U.S. residents work multiple jobs, or roughly 5.2% of the U.S. workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We may ask these people to prove that they didn’t have another job during their so-called employment with the United States of America, because if they did, that would be unlawful,” Trump said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP  “A lot of people are getting paychecks, but they’re actually working other jobs, so they’ll have to prove that to us that they weren’t,” Trump said. Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this article. 

Fox News Politics Newsletter: RFK Jr slams Dem senator’s ‘dishonest’ narrative

Fox News Politics Newsletter: RFK Jr slams Dem senator’s ‘dishonest’ narrative

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -White House still committed to freezing ‘woke’ funds despite rescinding OMB memo -Conservatives hammer Dem senator’s ‘droning monologue’ during RFK Jr hearing –Justice Department moves to drop prosecution of Mar-a-Lago staff in Trump classified docs case HHS Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden were involved in a tense exchange on Capitol Hill where Kennedy accused the senator of intentionally misrepresenting his past comments. Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which held a confirmation hearing for Kennedy on Wednesday, pressed the nominee on comments made on podcasts in recent years.  “During a podcast interview in July of 2023, you said, ‘no vaccine is safe and effective.’ In your testimony today, in order to prove you’re not anti-vax, you note that all your kids are vaccinated, but in a podcast in 2020, you said, and I quote, ‘you would do anything pay anything to go back in time and not vaccinate your kids,’” Wyden said to Kennedy…Read more FIGHTING BACK: Trump’s new legal team begins appeals process for Manhattan conviction…Read more  ‘EXTRAORDINARY CELEBRATION’: Trump to create task force to plan ‘extraordinary celebration’ for 250th anniversary of America’s independence…Read more ‘MY BOSS LOVES’ THEM: RFK Jr. vows he won’t take cheeseburgers away, just highlight health issues…Read more ‘CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES’: RFK Jr rips Dem senator for pushing ‘dishonest’ narrative on past vaccine comments: ‘Corrected it many times’…Read more BONDI AT BAT: Trump AG pick Pam Bondi clears Judiciary Committee, will get confirmation vote in Senate…Read more DEEPSEEK DANGER: GOP Sen Josh Hawley seeks to cut off all US-China collaboration on AI development…Read more ‘RAW DEAL’: Thomas Massie and Mike Lee advocate for US to dump NATO…Read more HAMAS, SMELL YOU LATER: President Donald Trump to deport Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, defund CRT with new executive orders…Read more ‘TREATED UNFAIRLY’: Howard Lutnick, Trump Commerce secretary pick, says it’s ‘nonsense’ that tariffs cause inflation…Read more SCORCHED EARTH: RFK Jr.’s former running mate threatens political war against confirmation opponents…Read more ‘COMMUNITY IS SAFER’: Noem says ‘worst of the worst’ arrested in NYC raid targeting criminal illegal immigrants…Read more SMELT TEST: Trump order overrides California’s fish-protecting rules to maximize water supply…Read more CAUGHT ON CAM: Los Angeles wildfires: Lawsuit alleges video shows what started Eaton Fire…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

‘Gulf of America’: Mexico lodging complaint over Google Maps change

‘Gulf of America’: Mexico lodging complaint over Google Maps change

NewsFeed Mexico’s president said her government will lodge a complaint with Google after the tech giant changed “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” for US users of its map service. She added that they will request to rename North America as Mexican America. Published On 29 Jan 202529 Jan 2025 Adblock test (Why?)

Israel says eight captives to be released Thursday under Gaza truce deal

Israel says eight captives to be released Thursday under Gaza truce deal

Five Thai citizens and three Israeli people held captive by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza are set to be released on Thursday under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday said Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moses would be released on Thursday along with five Thai nationals, whose names were not released. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect on January 19 hinges on the exchange of Israeli captives held by Palestinian groups in Gaza for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Hamas has so far released seven captives, with 290 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange. Bittersweet homecoming In northern Gaza, thousands of displaced Palestinians continued to return to their homes on Wednesday. More than 500,000 Palestinians have made the journey to northern Gaza in the past 72 hours after Israel’s military opened crossing points under the ceasefire agreement, Gaza’s Government Media Office said. Advertisement “I’m happy to be back at my home,” Saif al-Din Qazaat, who returned to northern Gaza but had to sleep in a tent next to the ruins of his house, told the AFP news agency. Mona Abu Aathra managed to travel from central Gaza to Gaza City, though she has yet to assess the full extent of the war’s impact on her home. “We returned to Gaza City with nothing, and there’s no drinking water. Most streets are still blocked by the rubble of destroyed homes,” said the 20-year-old. Abu Aathra expressed relief at being reunited with her family. “It’s the first night we’re together again, me, my mother and my father. Last night, we gathered with my three brothers who were here in Gaza City.” Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that many families returned to homes that were seriously damaged. “The joy of returning to northern Gaza has faded away in the face of the massive heartbreak and disappointment.” “There are no lifelines [in northern Gaza]. Water and food are only available in very limited quantities, not enough [to provide for the] large number of people making their way back to their destroyed homes,” he added. Aid accusations Since the ceasefire took effect, truckloads of aid have also been allowed by Israel into war-ravaged Gaza. But two senior Hamas officials have accused Israel of slowing down aid deliveries, with one citing items key to Gaza’s recovery such as fuel, tents, heavy machinery and other equipment. “According to the agreement, these materials were supposed to enter during the first week of the ceasefire,” one official said. Advertisement An Israeli spokesperson for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the defence ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said Hamas’s accusations are “totally fake news”. Between Sunday and Wednesday, “3,000 trucks entered Gaza”, the spokesperson said. “The agreement says it should be 4,200 in seven days.” A Turkish ship arrived at Egypt’s El Arish port according to the AFP news agency, containing 871 tonnes of humanitarian aid, 300 power generators, 20 portable toilets, 10,460 tents and 14,350 blankets. While the supplies add to hundreds of truckloads of aid that have entered Gaza during the ceasefire, aid workers say it is still far short of meeting the needs of the war-torn population. Meanwhile, Israel is set to implement a ban on the operations of the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Israel on Thursday. UNRWA’s offices and staff in Israel play a major role in the provision of healthcare and education to Palestinians, including those living in Gaza. Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan said the ban could have a “devastating” impact on the agency’s operations in Gaza. “According to the analysts, the most devastating consequences will be in Gaza. They already have more than a million tonnes of aid waiting outside Gaza to be sent into the Gaza Strip,” she said. Within Gaza, UNRWA offers free primary and secondary education to 294,086 children in Gaza, or half of all students in the enclave. Advertisement The UN agency also offers free primary healthcare, and maternal and child health services to 1.2 million people in Gaza – more than half of the population and provides food for 1.13 million people in the enclave. Adblock test (Why?)

Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa named president for transitional period

Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa named president for transitional period

Al-Sharaa was also authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase, state media reports. Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named president for a transitional period, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) has reported. Al-Sharaa was also authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase which will carry out its task until a new constitution is adopted, SANA reported on Wednesday, citing military official Hassan Abdel Ghani. Al-Sharaa is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former opposition armed group that led the lightning offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month. Since Assad’s removal, HTS has become the de facto ruling party and has set up an interim government largely composed of officials from the local government it previously ran in rebel-held Idlib province. Abdel Ghani also announced the dissolution of the armed factions in the country, which he said would be absorbed into state institutions. “All military factions are dissolved… and integrated into state institutions,” state news agency SANA quoted Abdel Ghani as saying, and also announcing “the dissolution of the defunct regime’s army” and security agencies, as well as the Baath party, which ruled Syria for decades. Advertisement The announcements emerged during a Damascus meeting of armed factions that fought alongside HTS in the offensive. The gathering was also attended by ministers from the HTS-installed interim government appointed in December. Al-Sharaa, whose group was once an al-Qaeda affiliate, has pledged to embark on a political transition including a national conference, an inclusive government, and eventual elections, which he has said could take up to four years to hold. He has also called for the creation of a new unified national army and security forces, but questions loom over how the interim administration can bring together a patchwork of former rebel groups, each with their own leaders and ideology. Adblock test (Why?)

Trump to sign executive order to prepare Guantanamo Bay for 30K ‘criminal illegal aliens’

Trump to sign executive order to prepare Guantanamo Bay for 30K ‘criminal illegal aliens’

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would sign an executive order for the Pentagon to prepare Guantanamo Bay to detain 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.” “Today I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said. “Most people don’t even know about it.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS 969 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS IN ONE DAY: ‘HERE ARE SOME OF THE WORST’ He said they need 30,000 beds to house the detainees, adding that putting them there will ensure they do not come back. “It’s a tough place to get out of,” Trump added.

No 2 Republican Steve Scalise lays out government funding strategies, with fiscal deadlines looming

No 2 Republican Steve Scalise lays out government funding strategies, with fiscal deadlines looming

DORAL, Fla. — House Republicans have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks, with three fiscal deadlines looming and President Donald Trump pushing for a very active first 100 days of his administration. Congressional GOP leaders are working on a massive conservative policy overhaul via the reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from 60 votes to a simple 51-seat majority, it allows the party in power to advance their policy goals into law, provided those policies deal with budgetary and other fiscal matters. “We want to deliver on all the things that President Trump talked about during the campaign… including no tax on tips, which was one of those early items that the president talked about, but also ensuring no tax increases happen. We can fully fund our border security needs, making sure we build the wall out, that we give more technology and tools to our Border Patrol agents,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “We can produce more energy in America… try to get rid of some of these crazy rules and regulations that add so much cost for no good reason to families.” TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS Scalise said it would be “much more robust” than Republicans’ last reconciliation bill passed in 2017 – the last time the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. His optimism comes as congressional Republicans still appear divided over how best to enact their plans. Senate Republicans and some GOP hardliners in the House have argued that trying to pass a bill with border and energy policies first would give Trump a quick win, while allowing more time for more complex issues like taxes. But House leaders are concerned that, given Republicans last passed two reconciliation bills in one year in the 1990s with much larger majorities, the two-track strategy could allow Trump’s 2017 provisions to expire and raise taxes on millions of families. “You have to start somewhere. We’re starting with one package,” Scalise said. “No disagreement on the details of what we’re going to include.” Meanwhile, lawmakers are also contending with the debt ceiling being reinstated this month after it was temporarily suspended in a bipartisan deal during the Biden administration. At least one projection suggests Congress will have until mid-June or earlier to deal with it or risk financial turmoil that comes with a downgrade in the U.S.’s national credit rating. And coming on March 14 is the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, which Congress has extended twice since the end of the previous fiscal year on Oct. 1. The No. 2 House Republican floated the possibility of combining those latter two deadlines. “The Appropriations Committee, which is not directly involved in budget reconciliation, is simultaneously having a negotiation with the Senate on government funding, you know, working with the White House to make sure it meets President Trump’s priorities,” Scalise said.  WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO SLASH GOVERNMENT WASTE, SPENDING “I would imagine the debt ceiling could very well be a part of that conversation in that negotiation.” Scalise spoke with Fox News Digital at the House GOP’s annual retreat, held this year at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida. Lawmakers huddled behind closed doors for three days to hash out a roadmap for grappling with their multiple deadlines and enacting Trump’s agenda. They also heard from the president himself, as well as Vice President JD Vance. Trump has on multiple occasions called on Republicans to act on the debt limit to avoid a U.S. credit default. Vance told Republicans on Tuesday that Trump wanted them to do so without giving leverage to Democrats – a weighty task given some GOP hardliners’ opposition to raising or suspending the limit over the U.S.’s $36 trillion national debt.   House GOP leaders can currently only afford one defection to still pass a bill along party lines. They’ve been forced to seek Democratic support on government funding multiple times, including most recently in December.  With no topline agreement reached and roughly 19 days in session before the March 14 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, it’s becoming increasingly likely that congressional leaders will have to combine all 12 annual appropriations bills into one massive “omnibus,” a move also generally opposed by GOP hardliners. “I think we’re getting closer,” Scalise said of a topline number for fiscal year 2025 spending. “The House and Senate were apart by a pretty sizable amount of money. They’re trying to negotiate that down to get a resolution.”

Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law as first legislative victory in new administration

Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law as first legislative victory in new administration

President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law Wednesday, marking the first piece of legislation to become law in his second administration.  “This horrific atrocity should never have been allowed to happen,” Trump told reporters Wednesday ahead of signing the legislation. “And as president, I’m fighting every single day to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.” The measure, which advanced through the House and Senate in January, directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer.  The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration. CONGRESS SENDS LAKEN RILEY ACT TO TRUMP’S DESK AS FIRST BILL OF GOP’S WASHINGTON TAKEOVER The law’s name honors a nursing student who was killed during a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus by an illegal immigrant. Jose Ibarra, who previously had been arrested but never detained by ICE, received a prison life sentence for killing 22-year-old Laken Riley.  Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, expressed her gratitude at the signing for everyone who pushed to advance the legislation. “We also want to thank President Trump for the promises he made us,” Phillips said. “He said he would secure our borders and that he would never forget about Laken. And he hasn’t. He’s a man of his word.” Riley’s father, John, and sister, Lauren, also were present at the signing.  The measure received support from all House Republicans and 48 Democrats, and all Senate Republicans and 12 Senate Democrats. Trump touted the bipartisan effort Wednesday.  “With today’s action, her name will also live forever in the laws of our country,” Trump said. “And this is a very important law. This is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That’s not easy to do. Laken did it. Laken did it. America will never, ever forget Laken Hope Riley.” Meanwhile, critics of the measure claim that the law will pave the way for mass detention, including for those who’ve committed minor offenses like shoplifting.  Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement after the Senate voted to advance the measure ahead of a final vote, “This is an extreme and reactive bill that will authorize the largest expansion of mandatory detention we have seen in decades.”  LAKEN RILEY ACT PASSES HOUSE WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS  “While we are disappointed this bill will pass the Senate, it is notable that so many senators opposed it and recognized the need for actual immigration reform — not the chaos and cruelty this legislation will unleash,” Mehta said.  Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration during his campaign, and declared a national emergency at the southern border following his inauguration. He also immediately ordered the expulsion of migrants without the possibility of asylum.  On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned foreign nationals considering entering the U.S. that they will be detained and kicked out of the country.  TIDAL WAVE OF BORDER SECURITY BILLS HIT HOUSE AS REPUBLICANS MOVE FAST ON DC TAKEOVER “So to foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States, think again,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday at the White House press briefing. “Under this president, you will be detained and you will be deported. Every day, Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump’s administration is removing from our communities.” Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

RFK Jr tells lawmakers that ‘every abortion is a tragedy’ at confirmation hearing

RFK Jr tells lawmakers that ‘every abortion is a tragedy’ at confirmation hearing

Every abortion is a “tragedy,” President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told lawmakers Wednesday.  While Kennedy previously voiced support for abortion even in the late stages of pregnancy, Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday he would carry out Trump’s policy priorities concerning abortion.  “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy said at his confirmation hearing. “I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I agree with him that the states should control abortion. President Trump has told me that he wants to end late-term abortions, and he wants to protect conscience exemptions.”  “I serve at the pleasure of the president,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to implement his policies.” MULTIPLE OUTBURTS ERUPT AT RFK JR HEARING: ‘YOU ARE’ According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 625,978 abortions were reported from 48 areas in 2021.  Trump has said on multiple occasions that he supports abortion in certain instances, and said that “powerful exceptions” for abortion would remain in place under his administration. Meanwhile, Kennedy has altered his position on abortion several times in the past year. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent presidential candidate in the 2024 election, has historically stated that he doesn’t believe the government should step in with a woman’s choice to end a pregnancy, despite his “personally pro-life” stance. RFK JR RIPS DEM SENATOR FOR PUSHING ‘DISHONEST’ NARRATIVE ON PAST VACCINE COMMENTS: ‘CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES’ In May, Kennedy said he supported abortions in the third trimester, although he later followed up and said he does back some restrictions.  Kennedy’s views appeared at odds with one another, and Democratic lawmakers said they were “confused” by his answers on abortion.  “Mr. Kennedy, I’m confused. You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is, do you stand for that value or not?” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said during the confirmation hearing. “When was it that you decided to sell out the values you have had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?” RFK JR. LIKELY TO BE CONFIRMED AS HEALTH SECRETARY, DR. SIEGEL SAYS Other lawmakers voiced concerns about Kennedy’s nomination, including Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.  “Frankly, you frighten people,” Whitehouse said, after claiming that there was a measles outbreak in Rhode Island for the first time since 2013 amid a broader discussion about Kennedy’s stance on vaccines.  Kennedy pushed back on “news reports” that he is anti-vaccine and anti-industry in his opening statements Wednesday, noting that all his children are vaccinated. He also has previously said that he isn’t interested in taking “away anybody’s vaccines.” Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

TikTok suppressed content critical of Trump and 2020 election controversy, exclusive report alleges

TikTok suppressed content critical of Trump and 2020 election controversy, exclusive report alleges

EXCLUSIVE: As the Trump administration works to keep TikTok legally available in the United States, the wildly popular app has suppressed content critical of President Donald Trump, according to a new report shared exclusively with Fox News. TikTok maintains the report has reached a false conclusion, and that the researchers used terms subjected to additional safety measures because they’ve been associated with election misinformation or profanity. The report, from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) at Rutgers University, contained findings that “highlight TikTok’s ability to act as a powerful influence tool, adaptable to partisan politics, but with no inherent incentive for transparency or accountability.” CHINESE AI STARTUP DEEPSEEK FACING HACK, BLOCKS QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMUNIST PARTY TIES “What you’re seeing is not sweeping policies around content moderation that can be battle tested by the public or by researchers,” said Adam Sohn, an NCRI board member. “TikTok seems to be just sort of picking and choosing their policies based on political expediency, and that’s a big concern.” NCRI said it analyzed TikTok, X, and Instagram “to evaluate their handling of specific hashtags associated with the 2020 election controversy” and that researchers received a response that “explicitly indicated content suppression based on TikTok’s enforcement of its community standards.” The group said terms such as “#RiggedElection,” “#VoterFraud,” “#StopTheSteal,” and “#StolenElection” returned no results on TikTok in the U.S. Researchers said that when they searched using software that swapped their domestic location for one overseas, those terms produced video results. Screen grabs provided by NCRI show a Jan. 24 TikTok search for “#F***JoeBiden” that returned 37,000 results. A search the same day for “#F***Trump” returned none. Three days later, Fox News replicated the search and there were videos listed under both.  REPUBLICAN STATE AGS AWAIT TRUMP-BROKERED TIKTOK DEAL, REMAIN SKEPTICAL ON APP SAFETY “The concern is that the Chinese Communist Party and Bytedance and TikTok itself can consistently tweak its algorithm to cover up its tracks,” Sohn said. “Our policies and algorithms haven’t changed in the last week,” said a TikTok spokesperson. The company maintains hashtags regarding the 2020 election controversies have promoted election misinformation, which is why they’ve been unavailable. TikTok contends that because the anti-Trump and anti-Biden search terms contain profanity, the app can limit those results. The company also says it’s experiencing technical issues as it’s trying to return its service to normal. Last year, Congress passed a bipartisan law that would ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, failed to sell the app by Jan. 19. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law. ByteDance still owns TikTok, but Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban’s enforcement for 75 days while his administration tries to negotiate an agreement for the app to comply with the law and keep it operating in the U.S.  NCRI has issued several reports on TikTok, concluding its search algorithm produced results to construct a favorable view of China’s government. TikTok has denied that allegation, calling NCRI’s work “flawed” and “clearly engineered to reach a false, predetermined conclusion.” In its arguments against TikTok, the Justice Department under the Biden administration cited NCRI’s reports. Cybersecurity experts told Fox that algorithms for apps like TikTok are held closely by their parent companies and can be difficult to evaluate. “Doing sort of this community management of these vast social media platforms, especially TikTok, which is so popular, is a Herculean task,” said Theresa Payton, a cybersecurity expert and the White House Chief Information Officer in the George W. Bush administration. “It could be that as they were making tweaks to handle capacity, to be able to more closely evaluate things that could be perceived as election interference, things that are considered hate speech.” Others note social media companies have sizable teams working with automated software to moderate content on their platforms. “Someone interprets something as in terms of a violation [that] may not match with someone else – it all sort of has to add up to a pattern,” said Pete Pachal, the Founder of The Media Copilot, a newsletter on AI changing media and journalism. “In the report, they do a very good job of showing that this pattern of supposed repression … content not appearing in searches does tend to happen more in one direction, and that should arouse a certain amount of suspicion.”