‘It Just Doesn’t Feel Right’: AOC Joins TikTok to Post Video Against Move Toward Ban
Congresswoman calls attention to "how unprecedented" a ban on a social media app would be
A prominent progressive congresswoman is expressing skepticism about the move in government to potentially ban the use of the popular TikTok social media app.
Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined TikTok to post a video specifically to talk about the potential ban of the app, which has 150 million monthly active American users.
Such a ban has been building up steam recently with bipartisan legislation introduced to either ban the app or force its sale to an American firm from Chinese parent company ByteDance.
The moves to potentially ban TikTok is based on worries over potential data privacy issues and Chinese government intrusion.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week amid the chorus of calls from members of Congress for the federal government to ban the video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is pushing for the company's sale.
Ocasio-Cortez, however, questioned the moves against the app, which particularly is wildly popular among young Americans.
“First of all, I think it's important to discuss how unprecedented of a move this would be,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her video. “The United States has never before banned a social media company from existence, from operating in our borders. And this is an app that has over 150 million Americans on it.”
Despite all of the concern over the national security vulnerability TikTok is said to represent, members of Congress have never a classified briefing on those worries, Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Congress has not received a classified briefing around the allegations of national security risks regarding TikTok, so why would we be proposing a ban regarding such an significant issue without being clued in on this at all,” she added. “It just doesn't feel right to me.”
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