TikTok posts from two Jamaal Bowman’s accounts, presented by FACT in their complaint
Rep. Bowman appears to have violated House rules and abused official resources for political purposes
On Monday, April 10, 2023, the non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), filed a complaint requesting the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigate Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York, to determine whether he has used a social media account (TikTok) in violation of House rules and abused official resources for political purposes.
TikTok, a social media company owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has received widespread, bipartisan criticism from Members of Congress and drawn scrutiny from the Biden Administration due to weak data privacy standards and security issues presented by its extremely close relationship with the Chinese government. Because of these concerns, TikTok has been banned from all federal government devices.
The ban notwithstanding, Rep. Bowman maintains both a campaign/political TikTok account (jamaalbowmanny) and an official TikTok account (repbowman). Rep. Bowman has posted political content on his official account, filmed and posted political content inside the U.S. Capitol building on his political accounts, and posted identical political content on both his official and political accounts, all of which are violations of the House Ethics rules.
“The laws and ethics rules prohibiting Members from using official resources for political purposes are clear and longstanding. Not only do these ethics rules protect taxpayer funds, but they also protect the integrity of the government and maintain citizens’ trust. Anytime a Member does not comply with these laws it is troubling and should concern citizens. The OCE must move swiftly to investigate and enforce these bright-line standards and apply the requisite penalty,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
A full copy of the complaint can be found here.
FACT is a nonprofit organization promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT, visit: http://www.factdc.org/
