Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being heavily criticized after joining the Chinese-owned app TikTok so that she can argue against its potential ban in the U.S.
“Now, this week, the CEO of TikTok came and testified before Congress as there are growing rumblings and discussion over a nationwide ban on the app. Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No,” the squad member said. “The United States has never before banned a social media company from existence, from operating in our borders, and this app has over 150 million Americans on it.”
Her defensiveness drew concerns since many reports revealed the Chinese government may be stealing American data and that the app could be used to promote pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation.
An unnamed senior member of New York’s congressional delegation reportedly told the New York Post that "AOC clearly stands for ‘Ambassador of China.'"
AOC insisted that banning TikTok “doesn’t really address the core of the issues,” despite the Department of Justice investigating allegations the app spied on several American journalists.
“Major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you don’t know about without any really significant regulation whatsoever,” she continued. “The United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the book.”
AOC downplayed the risks saying since Congress has not received a classified briefing on the matter, there must be nothing to worry about.
“And usually when the United States is proposing a very major move that has something to do with significant risk to national security, one of the first things that happens is that Congress receives a classified briefing," she said. “And I can tell you that Congress has not received a classified briefing around the allegations of national security risks why would we be proposing a ban regarding such a significant issue without being clued in on this at all? It just doesn’t feel right to me."