House Democrat Jamaal Bowman spurns the opposition to the Tiktok ban

Rep. Darrell Bowman, D-N.Y., has embraced the popular video-sharing app TikTok, gaining about 160,000 followers and 2 million likes by posting about his ideas and the operations of Congress, while many lawmakers are asking for a ban or significant modifications to the platform.

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More than 30 TikTok creators, whose platforms are threatened by the U.S. government's desire for tighter restrictions on the app, will participate in a press conference that Bowman will host on Wednesday. The incident contrasts sharply with the deep skepticism that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will undoubtedly encounter from many of Bowman's coworkers. This is because Bowman will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday regarding how the company protects U.S. users from surveillance and other harms.

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There have been numerous prohibitions of varying degrees around the country, including a federal ban of the app on government-owned smartphones, due to concerns about how the Chinese government could access the data of American users through TikTok's Chinese parent firm, ByteDance.

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After ByteDance refused to sell its stake, TikTok said last week that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) threatened to ban the app more broadly. The interagency team is examining any possible threats to national security posed by ByteDance's 2017 purchase of Musical.ly, a forerunner of TikTok. In response, TikTok has provided a comprehensive strategy to increase transparency and detach its operations from the parent firm in an effort to allay worries.

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But Bowman thinks that concerns about the app's potential threats have been exaggerated compared to the information that is now known about its weaknesses.

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Bowman appeared to be alluding to the recently reported Justice Department investigation into claims that former ByteDance employees spied on journalists when he said, "Now if I get more information based on the DOJ investigation or something like that, I will stand up and say I was wrong and go the other way. But at the moment, I'm hearing more rumors and speculation than actual evidence.”

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Bowman asserts that as a result, TikTok has been unfairly singled out as a social media firm and as a corporation with a Chinese owner. He claimed that there are numerous established economic linkages between the United States and China, as well as a large number of other China-based mobile applications.

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In hopes of protecting users, Bowman is in favor of new restrictions for the tech sector, but he thinks they should be applied to all of the big platforms.

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Whether it's TikTok or not, Bowman said, "we haven't done enough to ensure social media is safe, not addictive, doesn't spread false information, and can be utilized in the safest ways imaginable."

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At the press conference on Wednesday, creators with a combined following of more than 60 million will be featured and asked about the app's influence on their lives. TikTok has embraced the tactic of emphasizing users in its appeal to legislators. In a video posted on TikTok's official account on Tuesday, Chew mentioned the company's 150 million monthly active users in the U.S. and requested that people tell in the comments what they enjoy most about the app.

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Bowman's office has been collaborating mostly with the creators to plan the event, according to Emma Simon, Bowman's digital director and press secretary. However, TikTok brought the creators to Washington. The creators' meeting with Bowman's office was already scheduled. When Simon realized that the TikTokers wanted to have a news conference, she reportedly collaborated with them to make it happen.

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Because of his interactions with TikTok, Bowman has changed the way he views the app. He claims that compared to other platforms, the app has significantly fewer instances of disinformation and hate. The creators would essentially be driven off TikTok and back onto other platforms, he claimed. This is because they might experience harsh criticism or at the very least a different ambiance from that of the app.

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In particular, younger constituents, he has discovered that TikTok has enabled him to connect with new constituencies he hadn't previously engaged with through conventional communication channels.

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On Thursday, Chew will be questioned by a number of lawmakers, many of whom do not have TikTok accounts, unlike Bowman (or at least one that is public-facing). According to Bowman, lawmakers may have been influenced to enact a prohibition by their lack of experience with the program.

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"Fear is typically the result of not understanding something. And when you don't understand it and are terrified of it, you search for a way to get rid of it, according to Bowman. Several members of Congress, in my opinion, are presently seeking to accomplish that.

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Simon urged Bowman to get more involved with TikTok personally. Simon, 23, is part of TikTok's core audience. He claims to have pushed Bowman to utilize the program more directly to connect with constituents rather than just using it as a platform to repeat media blockbusters.

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When she convinced him to vlog the protracted Speaker of the House race earlier this year, Simon claimed that "it all started to change." The videos assisted Bowman in swiftly expanding his fan base and set an appropriate tone for the congressman's platform use.

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The goal of Simon's pitch to her supervisor was to demonstrate to him how many young people use TikTok compared to other platforms. She claimed that he was devoted to education and enjoyed interacting with young people. Chinese influence worries weren't really brought up throughout the conversation.