२३ मार्च, २०२३

"Meet the Lonely New York Progressive Defending TikTok/Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York says the drive to ban TikTok stems from anti-China 'hysteria.'"

NYT reports.
[H]e held a news conference outside the House touting the platform’s virtues, alongside dozens of influencers brought in by TikTok for a day of lobbying ahead of Thursday’s congressional hearing with its chief executive. Only two other Democrats attended, while some of the congressman’s most outspoken allies declined to weigh in, like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow member of the group of left-leaning lawmakers known as the squad. 
It is not hard to see why. Mr. Biden and prominent congressional leaders have locked arms around the idea that the platform, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, poses a serious national security threat.... 
Mr. Bowman, who posts short videos under the handle “repbowman,” said the issue was being warped by Washington groupthink. He argued that the Biden administration had yet to produce meaningful evidence that the platform was being manipulated by Chinese authorities and said that he feared it was being singled out amid “xenophobic anti-China rhetoric.”... 
Mr. Bowman does have some allies. “It is fantastic that Bowman is speaking out for the 150 million Americans that use this app and whose rights he’s trying to protect,” said Jenna Leventoff of the American Civil Liberties Union.... 
“I’m concerned mostly with our own affairs here in America,” [Bowman] said. “The West in general has had a huge footprint in world affairs. The us-against-them ideology is killing everyone.”

The headline calls Bowman "lonely," but I see he had 2 congressmen with him at the news conference — Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Robert Garcia of California. Mark Pocan is my congressman.

२० टिप्पण्या:

Ampersand म्हणाले...

TikTok management has stated quite explicitly that they have never been requested by the Chinese government to disclose their users' personal information, and that, if asked, they would refuse. Why is that not enough for all of you hysterical xenophobes?

Less ironically, I'm more concerned that Microsoft or Google would, intentionally or otherwise, make user data available to the CCP. And it's hard for me to believe that TikTok management knows precisely who has been given access to user data. Privacy is dead.

Tofu King म्हणाले...

I've seen no evidence either. The CCP is an existential threat to freedom, but I'm starting to wonder if the domestic political influence of Google and Meta might be driving this. It's a time honored tradition to get well kept government officials to eliminate your competition. Who to believe?

D.D. Driver म्हणाले...

This has nothing to do with China. It is 100% about protecting Google and Facebook's profits because they lick the boots of the FBI and CDC. You scratch my back, I'll take care of your little "competition" problem. It's a win-win.

Humperdink म्हणाले...

This collection of Chi-Coms can not/ will not understand the CCP is the enemy of the US. Just listening to the Chinese rhetoric is a vary good clue. That and their naval build up, their not so veiled threats and their support of Putin. I am not sure whether it's financial or whether they see the world through red .... er ... rose colored glasses. Maybe they're all on Lebron's payroll.

Doug म्हणाले...

I didn't have to read any farther than'Jamaal'.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

He is not very smart.

He is comparing a Chinese Communist Party-controlled app with Facebook, Twitter, etc.

How much are they paying him?

Michael K म्हणाले...

Anybody check his bank accounts ?

Iman म्हणाले...

Just follow the money.

Richard म्हणाले...

Ann, don't you have a conflict of interest on this issue? :)

Richard म्हणाले...

"like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow member of the group of left-leaning lawmakers known as the squad. "

If AOC is only left-leaning, then Stalin was a centrist.

mikee म्हणाले...

I, for one, welcome anti-China "hysteria" now and until the CCP is regarded universally as the murderous totalitarian regime it has always been and still is and wants to continue being.

n.n म्हणाले...

Sinophobia... democratic/dictatorial regime, one/selective-child, single/central/monopolistic economics, transnational invasions, balloons with benefits, Biden on the payroll, and actual slavery.

Achilles म्हणाले...

If you believe in Global Warming/Climate Change you are going to be too stupid to manage yourself with predatory apps like Tik Tok.

So the real issue is that Tik Tok has done what the Regime is trying to do, but Tik Tok did it better.

They have to ban Tik Tok because first we raised a generation of invalids who can't think for themselves, and second Tik Tok out competed the Regime for their attention.

n.n म्हणाले...

Zoom zoom. Pass the Kleenex.

gilbar म्हणाले...

So Basically Jamaal is saying: I'm on the Chinese payroll; It's RACIST of you to complain?

Inga म्हणाले...

Well, if TikTok is banned in the US, they always have Russia, their ally.

Scotty, beam me up... म्हणाले...

Rep. Bowman’s new best friend, Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew, was doing his best to directly avoid yes and no questions put to him by both Dem and GOP Congressmen / Congresswomen today. I suspect he was attempting to avoid perjuring himself with his word salads. His (non) answers were telling that the Tik Tok is actually guilty of what they are accused of doing.

It actually was refreshing to see both parties united for once.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Tofu King said...
I've seen no evidence either. The CCP is an existential threat to freedom, but I'm starting to wonder if the domestic political influence of Google and Meta might be driving this. It's a time honored tradition to get well kept government officials to eliminate your competition. Who to believe?

The DC Regime allied with Google, Facebook and Twitter before it was bought have already been caught trying to do what China did to it's people.

The Democrats/GOPe are just as much an existential threat to freedom.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

I have no idea if Bowman has a sustainable opinion.

He lost all credibility when he used 'racist'.

If you don't want people to think you an idiot, stop using racist as your default position. Either you are an idiot, and believe what you said, or you are too intellectually lazy to do the work to lay out a cogent argument. Or, you believe everyone is as vapid and stupid as you are.

Michael म्हणाले...



Washington is too bloated, too slow, too ossified to understand that they'll always be 3 steps behind. The successor to TikTok is already being created in some kid's bedroom in Fresno or Bangkok or Lagos. Narrative and data control is an illusion.

Consider the monumental effort they had make to control Google, Facebook and Twitter during COVID and the last election. They got a short-term win but at the expense of increasing the public's cynicism. Study the USSR in the 70s and 80s and you see the same growing alienation of the people from their government. Eventually it all collapses.