Alexanadria Ocasio-Cortez, did not fool many when she jumped to the defense of Chinese owned TikTok, particularly given the current geopolitical climate and U.S. history with China. Yet it’s also typical of her to speak out in support of the issues she claims to be passionate about – and this was certainly one of those times. We’ve now learned that AOC’s motivation to stand up for the popular globalist app was not out of her passion, it was for something much bigger.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal in her defense of the popular social media platform TikTok, and it has recently come to light that an organization she is a member of has accepted sizable donations from the company’s Chinese parent company ByteDance. This news raises some interesting questions; is this a conflict of interest or simply coincidental?
Daily Wire reports, a technology policy expert at Heritage Foundation, Jake Denton noted that Ocasio-Cortez sits on the advisory council for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, which received $150,000 from ByteDance last year, according to a lobbying contribution report.
She recently commented on TikTok that a ban would be “unprecedented” if it were halted over national security concerns.
She remarked, asserting that regulators should “actually protect Americans from this kind of egregious data harvesting that companies can do without your significant ability to say no.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has also defended TikTok publicly. His wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, has worked for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which has also received $150,000 from ByteDance.
Bowman argued last week, “TikTok as a platform has created a community and a space for free speech for 150 million Americans and counting. It is also a place where 5 million small businesses are selling their products and services and making a living.”
Last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about Chinese officials’ ability to control and influence TikTok and ByteDance, vowing that the latter is not an “agent of China or any other country.”
However, Chew failed to specify whether anyone associated with ByteDance assisted him with preparing for his testimony when pressed by lawmakers. He admitted that the same attorneys representing TikTok also represent ByteDance.
We almost believed AOC as she hopped on the TikTik platform to please their overlords for advocating on their behalf. How much do we want to be that video instantly went viral as she posted it with the help of bytedance. Her looking over her notes didn’t give her away at all. It’s obvious there is a clear conflict of interest for most lawmakers against the ban and they are probably being urged to advocate on their behalf, we aren’t stupid.
Let’s continue this conversation, in the comments below.
