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Chinese social media app TikTok declared war on Congress last week, insisting it was not a threat to national security. In a rare example of bipartisanship, this declaration appears to have awakened our nation’s leaders to the threat posed by such a powerful anti-American propaganda tool. Now, TikTok executives are worried that time is running out.
And they may be right.
TikTok is one of the world’s largest social media apps. It is owned by China’s ByteDance, which is exactly like saying it is at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party. The results are alarming. China manipulates the news that our young people watch, turning them against the United States in an outrageous abuse of press freedom. And the app collects tons of data about them in the process.
It is widely considered to be a Chinese spy app and has been banned from government phones, but the Biden administration (Democrat Hypocrites) still has a campaign account on TikTok. Congress is holding hearings on what to do about the app and its dangerous algorithms. As a result of the public hearing, the owners could be forced to sell or possibly shut down. So TikTok called on its millions of loyal followers to harass lawmakers.
The result was not a typical pressure campaign. They happen all the time. This was essentially a foreign government pressuring our government to continue its anti-American propaganda. TikTok users were warned: “Speak up now before the government strips 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression.”
Of course, the language of TikTok’s call to action does not mention that the bill only forces owners to sell. But when did the genocidal Chinese government care about facts, rights, and laws? Almost none.
The Washington Post said, “Each House office has since received hundreds of calls from TikTok users, sometimes fielding more than 20 calls a minute, according to eight congressional aides.” Reported.
Congressional offices reported receiving many calls from citizens as young as 12 years old – Some people threaten suicide If the app is shut down. Some offices returned phones to stop the onslaught. The BBC summed up the result well: “Desperate TikTok lobbying backfired on Parliament Hill.”
The bill passed the committee on a 50-0 vote. A vote is scheduled for the full House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 12th, and President Joe Biden has also expressed support. “If it passes, I will sign it,” he said.
Kevin O’Leary proposes to buy TikTok and turn it into a ‘new American company’ if ban goes ahead
TikTok responded by claiming it had the right to do so. For the record, China is a Marxist dictatorship that regularly threatens its neighbors with attacks and brutally blocks even the slightest semblance of freedom, such as Hong Kong.
“This bill would completely ban TikTok, no matter how hard its authors try to hide it. This bill would trample on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and It would deprive millions of small businesses of the platform they rely on for growth and job creation.” TikTok said in a statement.
You can hope so.
TikTok has over 1.5 billion users worldwide (St. Petersburg)
recently, TikTok launches media campaign To push back against Congress’s efforts. It’s called “TikTok Sparks Good,” and it features some of the top creators championing what’s possible on the platform. Cody and Erika Archie are some of the notable users who have come on board with support. “TikTok is helping us preserve this way of life for future generations,” said the “first-generation ranchers from Gatesville, Texas,” who have 1.2 million followers on the app.
They seem like good people and I can’t blame them for not wanting to lose their platform. But Congress needs to look at the bigger picture and the many threats posed by China.
TikTok has over 1.5 billion users worldwide and has terrifying power when misused. According to Amnesty International, it has been accused of “leading children and young people to harmful mental health content”. This includes “multiple featured videos within an hour that glorify, normalize, or encourage suicide.”
Some have linked TikTok to a horrifying rise in anti-Semitism in the West, especially among young people who love the app. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, said TikTok is giving people a “distorted or historically unreflective” view of Israel’s war against the terrorist group Hamas. Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” also became popular on TikTok for a while.
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The version of the app you get here is also not allowed in China. Their version encourages young people to learn and improve themselves instead of wasting their days trying to become “influencers.”
Our leaders have been wrestling with China’s influence on American social media for some time. India resolved the issue in 2020 by banning TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps. Even though TikTok’s top executives don’t believe in the concept, our country’s tradition of a free press has made American politicians more divided.
Many conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, are concerned about the ban. President Trump has said he doesn’t want to support TikTok competitors like Facebook, which often censor conservatives. “If we take out TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck’s business will double. We don’t want Facebook to do better after they rigged the last election. They are the true enemy of the people! ” he posted on Truth Social.
Trump is right about other social media dangers. Facebook, YouTube, and pre-Elon Musk Twitter all twisted their policies to target the right. But that doesn’t mean foreign apps like TikTok should be allowed to manipulate our politics. on monday, Trump clarified his comments. He then explained why he was backing away from efforts to ban Chinese-owned apps.
Rep. Chris Smith (RN.J.) expressed concerns held by people on both sides of the aisle. He accused TikTok of “targeting American children with Chinese Communist Party propaganda during school hours and recruiting minors to act as foreign agents for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
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And that’s how we need to look at this seriously. Through its lobbying efforts, TikTok has proven to the world that it has too much influence over Americans. Foreign adversaries should not be allowed to have that level of influence over our politics.
Our leaders need to tell TikTok, “Time is up.”
Click here to read more from Dan Gaynor
