AOC Takes To TikTok To Defend Chinese-Owned App From Possible Nationwide Ban

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a Democratic Representative from New York, joined the discussion about a ban on TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media app.

On Saturday, the Democratic Socialist and member the left-wing “Squad”, took to TikTok to protest bipartisan support for a ban on the app. AOC stated that TikTok is only one app that collects large amounts of data and minimized privacy concerns. She called for a wider data privacy law, rather than banning one app.

“Do you believe TikTok should not be banned?” AOC replied, “No,” AOC said. This is her first post on AOC, even though she created it more than a decade ago.

She stated, “First of all I believe it’s important that we discuss how unusual a move this is.” “The United States has never banned social media companies from being established or operating within our borders. This app has more than 150 million Americans,” she said.

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Ocasio-Cortez discussed first criticisms of the app as a vessel for Chinese surveillance and that it steals users’ data. She dismissed those concerns by saying that TikTok ban “doesn’t address the core issue of the problem, which is that large social media companies have the ability to collect troves if deeply personal data about your that you don’t know about, and without any regulation whatsoever.”

She stated that the United States was one of the few developed countries without privacy or data protection laws. She said that instead of banning TikTok with 150 million users, the solution is to “actually safeguard Americans from this type of egregious and illegal data harvesting that companies can perform without your significant ability of saying no.”

Ocasio-Cortez also criticised the app’s national security implications. Congress receives a classified briefing when they consider legislation with national security implications. Congress has never received a classified Briefing. She asked, “Why would we propose a ban regarding such an important issue without being fully informed?” She said, “It just doesn’t feel right.” She also stated that Congress should present its case to ban TikTok to public.

She concluded, “But frankly I think a lot this is putting a cart before the horse.” Our first priority should be to protect your ability for existence without social media companies harvesting or modifying any piece of data without you consent.

The video has been viewed more than 2.3 Million times since the publication of this article.

AOC isn’t the only member of the Democratic Party who opposes a ban on TikTok. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the “Squad,” posted a video Thursday on the app protesting a ban. Bowman stated in the video that “TikTok has created a community, a space for freedom speech for 150 millions Americans and counting,” It is also home to 5 million small businesses that sell their products and make a living.

Representative Robert Garcia (D–CA) and Rep. Mark Pocan, (D–WI) both defended TikTok during this week.