By Dan Murphy
Westchester Congressman Jamaal Bowman became one of the first members of congress to support Tik Tok, as Congress debates whether to ban the popular mobile App. The Chinese-owed platform has come under scrutiny and criticism for its widespread use by millions of young americans, some to their detriment. Others in Congress claim that Tik Tok is being used by the Chinese Communist Party, (CCP), as an information collection and data mining tool.
“Tik Tok has become a community for free speech for 150 Americans. That includes many of the content creators that I just met with. They talk to me about a sense of family. They talk to me about a sense of community. They talk to me about a place that is helpful to their mental health, and to their sense of belonging. They talk to me about finding a place where they can communicate with others like them.
“Tik Tok is used as an educational tool where you have professors and teachers providing content for students to engage with and learn from. That is what Tik Tok is for so many Americans,” said Rep. Bowman, who pushed back on claims that Tik Tok is hurting Americans, or that it is involved in spying for the CCP.
“Why do we need to ban a platform that 150 million Americans now use?” There are many apps on our phones right now that are Chinese apps. And so the idea that, ‘Oh, TikTok is the boogeyman’ — it’s just part of a political fearmongering that’s happening,”
Bowman added that the accusations made against Tik Tok are more of the same “fearmongering” coming from the Republican Party, who he says is “xenophobia around China.”
“I haven’t seen any hard evidence that TikTok is committing some form of espionage,” he said. “What I’ve heard is speculation. And what I’ve heard is innuendo.”
Rep. Bowman, who frequently posts on Tik Tok and has a large number of followers, said that Facebook is more of a security risk than Tik Tok. “When we look at American companies like Facebook looking the other way in 2016 when Russia colluded to impact our election — Facebook is a national security risk. We’re not talking about a ban on Facebook.”
Bowman also said that young democrats could take a Tik Tok ban under the Biden adminstration as a political danger for the President, as he prepares for a reelection run in 2024. “I think the more we learn, the more you’ll see people stand up and defend TikTok. Let me say this: If information comes out that clearly shows TikTok as a problem, I will say I was wrong. I have no problem saying that. I just haven’t seen that information as of yet.
