AOC criticizes discussions to ban TikTok in her first ever post on Chinese app
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has posted her first ever TikTok as she criticized plans to ban the Chinese video sharing app over surveillance fears.
AOC accused politicians of ‘putting the cart before the horse’ and urged them to allow the more than 150 million American users to stay on the app.
This week TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny from Biden’s administration after Canada and the European Union prohibited use of the app on government-issued mobile devices.
The mandates stem from fears Beijing could force TikTok to hand over data about its international users.
In the video, which has more than 1.5 million views, AOC said: ‘Hey everyone, this is Rep AOC and this is my first TikTok.
AOC accused politicians of ‘putting the cart before the horse’ and urged them to allow the more than 150 million American users to stay on the app
‘Now, this is not only my first TikTok but it is a TikTok about TikTok.
‘This week the CEO of TikTok came and testified before Congress as there is growing rumblings and discussion over a nationwide ban on the app.
‘Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No.
She explains that no such sweeping bans on apps have ever been made in the US before.
‘Why should TikTok not be banned? First of all I think it’s important to discuss how unprecedented of a move this would be,’ she said.
‘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.’
She adds that banning the app doesn’t ‘address the core of the issue.’
AOC is known for her social media presence, having garnered 8.6 million Instagram followers and 13.4 million on Twitter.
‘Major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you don’t know about without really any significant regulation whatsoever.
‘In fact the United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on its books.’
She goes on to point out that the EU has strict General Data Protection Regulation laws, unlike the US.
‘If we want to make a decision as significant as banning TikTok, and we believe — or someone believes — that there is really important information that the public deserves to know about why such a decision would be justified, that information should be shared,’ she said.
TikTok is owned by Chinese internet company