[1]Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress

OK, I want to talk a little bit about this TikTok ban (which I voted against, by
the way).

Last year, when this ban came up for a vote, they said, “It's a national
security issue, it’s a national security issue!” I said, “OK. That's
serious.”

Let's see the case. Let's see the intelligence. Let's see what's going on.

I can tell you that what was presented to all of the Members voting on
this thing was not very compelling. There was no real information that was
a smoking gun or anything specific.

In fact, high ranking members on the House Foreign Affairs Committee came
to me after and were pretty surprised. They were genuinely expecting there
to be some real or compelling intelligence shared that would substantiate
the argument. And there just wasn't.

Additionally, this bill, which is very large and substantive in terms of
its impact, came to the Energy and Commerce Committee, was marked up, and
then brought to the floor in a matter of just a few weeks — which is very,
very fast.

Additionally, the degree to which corporations surveil the American people
without genuine consent — and without real mechanisms for opting out —
should be illegal. Point blank, period.

So many of us, naturally, said: The answer is not just playing endless
whack-a-mole with apps.

We should have real privacy legislation in the United States. We should
help people have greater agency over their personal information so that
they're not being spied on all the time, whether it's a domestic company
or a foreign company.

To which, of course, big tech and their lobbies are going to fight
against. So they just target an app instead of targeting the problem.

And then lastly, when this thing was passed, all these legislators who
supported it were like, “Oh it's not a ban, it's not a ban — it's just a
forced sale!” Which, to be fair, forced sales have happened in the past
(Grindr was a forced sale).

Well, they provided very little time for that to happen. For an app that
big… like, who's going to buy TikTok? Hello? It's very large.

Now, here we are.

I would say that the lack of forethought and the rushed nature of this
bill is now evidenced by the fact that both the Biden and Trump
administrations are looking to see if there's any way to reverse or stall
it.

More soon,

Alexandria

Our movement for progress takes no money from corporations, lobbyists, or
special interests.

[ [link removed] ]Help
us continue the fight with a grassroots contribution today.



[ [link removed] ]Contribute $5




 


This email was sent to [email protected]. Email is the most important way we keep in touch with people like you, so thank you for reading to the end. Small donors like you keep us going. To contribute via check, please address to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, PO Box 680080, Corona, NY 11368.



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]


PAID FOR BY ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ FOR CONGRESS