Routinely standing apart from even their Democratic Party peers, the Squad has oft-held interests divorced from the rest of America and Wednesday, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) set out to prove that with a tired defense of Chinese-owned TikTok.
Calls for bans and their actual implementation have been carried out at all levels of government throughout the country and in private institutions. As recently as December, the Senate voted unanimously to ban the use of the popular social media platform on government-issued mobile devices while the House directed members to delete it over national security concerns.
Previewing a Wednesday press conference set to feature 30 TikTok creators, Bowman spoke with NBC News about the importance of the platform as he decried criticism of it as “xenophobia around China.”
“This is a space where these creators have found a platform to share their ideas, their inspirations, their thoughts, their voices with the rest of the country and the rest of the world. And why do we want to take that away?” he asked. “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 continued.
Previously, it had been pointed out that the congressman and his Squad allies, Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Cori Bush (MO), and Rashida Tlaib (MI) had disregarded calls to cease usage of the app in favor of the outreach it provided them, even after they themselves had voted yes or present and the bill against it.
Lawmakers are still using TikTok after voting to ban it on federal government devices https://t.co/RaAookmXEU pic.twitter.com/H2kvoy03bU
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 9, 2023
“I haven’t seen any hard evidence that TikTok is committing some form of espionage. What I’ve heard is speculation. And what I’ve heard is innuendo,” he went on while arguing that companies like Facebook could be just as guilty because of supposed culpability regarding Russian collusion claims.
“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 said.
Of course, Democratic senators like Virginia’s Mark Warner had come to bipartisan support with their Republican colleagues and called out the app “as a propaganda mechanism for the Communist Party of China. That, I believe, is a national security concern,” Bowman could readily point the finger at his party leader, President Joe Biden, who has continued to drag his feet on moving forward with a ban.
“I’m not sure,” Biden said when asked about banning access to the app.
Tick Tock: Biden slows clock on social media platform banhttps://t.co/7jZLh40MTM
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) March 13, 2023
As to where that uncertainty may come from, John McKinnon wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “For Democrats, a key to reaching those younger voters has been TikTok, according to consultants in both parties. That advantage has been sharpened by many Republicans’ refusal to use the platform because of its perceived security risks, Democratic strategists say.”
So, of little surprise, in their effort to harvest the young and most impressionable votes available, opportunistic Democrats like Bowman put exposure above security risks.
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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