The Congress is using TikTok to drive fear towards China. |
Dear friend,
Did you see the women in pink speak out for truth and bring love into the halls of Congress?
Did you hear thousands of voices calling for peace in Washington DC and across the country?
As the war drums on China beat louder, our movement is growing ever stronger. With the unity and courage we showed this past week, let’s remind our lawmakers that China is not our enemy!
Tell Congress to stop using TikTok to drive fear and war towards China!
On Thursday, a Congressional hearing took place where the TikTok CEO was grilled for five hours on the grounds of “security concerns.” This was days after the FBI and DOJ launched an investigation on the Chinese-owned American company. Isn’t it ironic that while the US government is putting TikTok under the magnifying glass, it’s turning a blind eye to its own surveillance programs on the American people?
In 2020, the FBI used social media to monitor racial justice protesters who were targeted for arrests. For example, activist Mike Avery was arrested after posting about protests on Facebook, and his charges were dropped without explanation a few weeks later. An FBI official was so frustrated with the extensive social media surveillance that he told the Intercept, “Man, I don’t even know what’s legal anymore.”
Other federal agencies are equally complicit in using mass social media surveillance. ICE has monitored the online activities of immigration rights advocates. Under the Trump administration’s “Muslim ban,” the State Department deployed social media screening that discriminated against the Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities.
Tell Congress to end the hypocrisy and stop targeting TikTok!
Ten years ago, Edward Snowden told the whole world the truth about the US global surveillance programs. If Congress cares about our digital privacy, it should first begin by investigating the surveillance policies of its own US agencies. The campaign against TikTok is a fear-mongering tactic to wage war on China.
Tell Congress to stop using TikTok to drive fear and war towards China!
Onward to peace,
Wei, Jodie, and the entire CODEPINK Team
Read more:
- The Hill: TikTok executive says House hearing ‘felt rooted in xenophobia’
- The Brennan Center for Justice: Social Media Surveillance by the U.S. Government
- The Intercept: Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation
- NBC: FBI trawled Facebook to arrest protesters for inciting riots, court records show