The TikTok social media platform became unavailable in the United States on Saturday night before a federal ban on the Chinese-owned short-video app took effect. The app has also disappeared from app stores.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States,” a message on the app states. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned.”

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will probably give TikTok a temporary reprieve from a looming ban over the social media platform’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party. “If I decide to do that, I'll probably announce it on Monday,” Trump told NBC. The delay would allow the platform to continue operating in the United States as the Trump administration undertakes a review of the situation. (More)

After government officials and drone experts gave non-threatening explanations for nearly all of the drone sightings last year, the hoopla over so-called “mystery drones” dissipated. However, questions linger.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised that, soon after his Jan. 20 inauguration, he will release more details about the drone sightings; he said it was “ridiculous” that federal officials had been so tight-lipped. Because of the attention brought by the media frenzy over the sightings, the public is more aware of drones—a plus for U.S. drone-makers and sellers.

Drone industry leaders also say the incidents underscore an ongoing dilemma: How to balance security needs and airspace-use restrictions against the drive to innovate drone capabilities and uses? The need to fine-tune drone regulations and procedures is becoming more critical, considering how fast the industry is growing, experts said. (More)

Li Yixue, a blogger in her early 20s, has become the face of a longstanding controversy in communist China: the misuse of psychiatric hospitals to suppress the regime’s critics.

For years, China watchers and human rights groups have raised alarms about this form of abuse, and Li’s case has drawn renewed attention to the issue. Medical experts and Li’s family members say she shows no signs of mental illness. Others question the legality of her forced confinement.

Victims have reported beatings, forced medication, and electroconvulsive therapy, among other inhumane treatments, while locked up in these facilities, according to a 2022 report by human rights watchdog Safeguard Defenders. China’s psychiatric facilities, often called Ankang hospitals, are regularly used to detain citizens who publicly criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), political dissidents, and people of faith. The Safeguard Defenders report found that more than half of those admitted to Ankang hospitals had no prior psychiatric evaluations, and nearly one-third had been hospitalized more than once. (More)

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