Looks like the Biden administration is slowly waking up to the real and present danger posed to national security by Beijing-owned TikTok, a danger that conservatives have long been warning about.
Heck, former President Donald Trump had long warned about the nefarious influence of TikTok, which is likely why the Chinese had a rather vested interest in ensuring that Biden, rather than Trump, ascended to the Oval Office.
One such Republican includes Republican Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher, who has outlined all the ways in which TikTok can jeopardize the safety of its oftentimes oblivious users.
“I’m concerned about TikTok’s ability to track your location, track your keystrokes, track what websites you’re visiting, even when you’re not using the app. I’m concerned about the lack of transparency around the algorithm which is addicting kids,” Gallagher began.
Not to mention the lack of transparency regarding how predators can exploit TikTok data for pursuing children, which is precisely why TikTok was recently hit with a huge lawsuit barely covered by the mainstream media.
The media would rather focus on trans influencers on TikTok, given how many of them the Biden administration felt compelled to employ.
“But I think what’s more pernicious is the fact that, since a lot of young men and women in America increasingly turn to TikTok to get news, what if they start censoring the news, right? What if they start tweaking the algorithm to determine what the CCP deems fit to print? That’s incredibly dangerous,” Gallagher continued.
Especially given the Democrats’ prolific use of TikTok relative to Republican counterparts, with Democrat politicians estimated to use TikTok to reach voters at a rate nearly three times that of Republicans.
And, in case it has not yet been made clear how incredibly dangerous such influence is, Gallagher laid it all out quite clearly, using an apt Cold War analogy.
“That’s as if, in 1958, we allowed the KGB and Pravda to buy The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post. That actually probably understates the threat. I think it’s a multi-pronged threat we need to look at,” Gallagher remarked.
Safe to say that such a theoretical 1958 purchase would have been devastating, and America likely would not exist as we know it today had that occurred.
Which is perhaps China’s intent.
Gallagher also blasted the social media giant as “digital fentanyl,” though one can overdose endlessly on TikTok without the imminent threat of loss of life.
Unless they take part in a TikTok “challenge,” that is, as many juveniles tragically have.
“I think the comparison is apt for at least two reasons,” Gallagher declared, “one, it’s highly addictive and destructive and we’re seeing troubling data about the corrosive impact of constant social media use, particularly on young men and women here in America.”
Yep.
Facebook is bad enough, but TikTok is just downright obnoxious. At least people actually have to read some text on Facebook, whereas TikTok is an endless stream of oftentimes inane videos, spearheaded by self-proclaimed experts.
Needless to say, Twitter has also become increasingly attractive in the wake of Elon Musk taking control of the platform.
“It’s also digital fentanyl in the sense that, as you allude to, it ultimately goes back to the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok is owned by ByteDance; ByteDance is effectively controlled by the CCP. So, we have to ask whether we want the CCP to control what is on the cusp of becoming the most powerful media company in America,” Gallagher continued.
Precisely.
One can’t help but wonder why Biden has been so lackadaisical in terms of his approach to national security, if all his denials regarding his son’s business are to believed.
In truth, the Chinese’s 10 percent investment in “the Big Guy” was likely their best, and cheapest, investment ever in their ever-expanding quest for world domination.
And they aren’t afraid to partner with Russia to do so.
As reported by the Intercept, China and Russia have apparently struck a rather charming agreement with regards to their anti-Western agenda, one in which they mutually attempt to shift the entire planet’s opinion against the United States.
“Since the war broke out in February, experts have been struck by a convergence in Russian and Chinese media narratives. While some of the convergence was likely happenstance, occurring when storylines aided both governments’ goals, documents found in a trove of hacked emails from Russia state broadcaster VGTRK show that China and Russia have pledged to join forces in media content by inking cooperation agreements at the ministerial level,” the outlet reported.
Well, that’s disturbing.
And these are the foreign entities Biden and Co. choose to “engage” with after getting a major leg up from Obama … who does indeed appear to be enjoying a “third term” through Biden.
Author: Jane Jones