On Thursday’s broadcast of NBC’s “MTP Now,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) claimed that there isn’t any evidence that TikTok poses a national security concern through Chinese espionage on the app, but there is a national security concern from “misinformation and the spreading of misinformation” on social media.
Host Chuck Todd asked, “[I]f there really is a national security concern, the economic argument then rings hollow, does it not?”
Bowman responded, “Correct. Yeah, exactly, right. So, if there’s Chinese espionage happening on TikTok, absolutely, that trumps everything else. The problem is, there’s been no evidence of that. But there’s been hysteria. And my point is, take a step back, look at the national security concerns of all platforms. Donald Trump used Twitter to nurture the behavior that occurred on January 6 and a violent insurrection. That’s a national security concern. Looking the other way and allowing Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, that’s a national security concern. I would argue that misinformation and the spreading of misinformation on these platforms are [national security concerns]. And, more importantly, they impact the psychology of the American people in a way that’s negative and harmful to us, forcing us to almost be at war with ourselves. This happens on American platforms, not just on TikTok.”
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