As this legislation becomes more of a reality, we’re going to see more of this rhetoric from classical media. It would appear that Colbert has already begun the process of sliding to the right along with American leaders.
Under The Desk News is one of those TikTok channels that found huge momentum within the gorilla media space on TikTok. They are not even close to the most alternative or working class aligned news content on the platform. Their content is labor aligned lib coded. However, for many libs on the platform, Under The Desk News is among a reasonable portion of the news they consume.
There is nothing hypocritical about Colbert operating a TikTok channel while also genuflecting to the established anti-china orthodoxy. Colbert is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal operating within a long-standing liberal institution. There is capital to be earned on TikTok, that is the reason the show has a channel. Colbert is not some radical, ideological thinker, he is a funny man masquerading as a “Progressive”. The funny political man archetype that encompasses John Oliver, Colbert, and John Stuart and others has always been about shepherding smarmy “adults in the room” liberals to a comfortable position inside the Overton Window. They are “left” coded, but only in the American political context. The position inside the window is just before the left horizon, and when the window shifts right, these jesters will be there to nudge the herd with it.
You can summarize their content into a simple three act play.
Act. 1: “Let’s talk about [current event]”
Act 2: “Look at how fucked this is. I feel angry, just like you do”
Act 3: “Now that we’ve gotten our feelings out, I have a solution for you. Work within our existing systems. (vote, write your reps, etc.)”
Their methodology of dismantling these rotting structures might as well be summed up as “Hope and Pray”. In due time, we will see the mildest skepticism about the TikTok ban washed away from classical media reporting.
The TikTok “Ban” is about many things. Media control is absolutely one of those things. It doesn’t need to be direct manipulation of the content. It can simply be the enshitification of the platform that will drive people back to established news outlets. The genocide in Gaza represents the most powerful incarnation of TikToks gorilla media. While anecdotal, I know people in my orbit who, recited emerging western narratives, only to then turn around and tell me “I think that was all a lie, the stuff I’m seeing on TikTok doesn’t align with what I’m being told” or “I don’t even know what to believe at this point, but I know that its only getting worse for Palestinians”.