"Opposing TikTok Ban"... Viral Video of US Star Politician Explodes in Views

US House Progressive Star Ocasio-Cortez Posts Video
"Public Must Understand Legitimacy to Decide TikTok Ban"

China's video-sharing platform TikTok, facing the threat of being banned in the United States, has gained a strong supporter. It is Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (hereafter AOC), known for her progressive political stance.

According to a report by The New York Times (NYT) on the 25th (local time), AOC, a Democrat, posted a video opposing the TikTok ban on her TikTok account just before midnight the previous day.

This was the first time in over a year since AOC opened her TikTok account early last year that she posted content on the platform. It also came right after bipartisan lawmakers unanimously criticized TikTok during a House hearing on the 23rd. The video garnered over 1.5 million views in less than a day.

In the video, AOC claimed, "President Joe Biden and bipartisan lawmakers are putting the cart before the horse." She argued that it is appropriate to first accurately assess how much of a national security threat TikTok poses before discussing whether to ban it.

AOC criticized, "For a major decision like banning TikTok, the public also needs to understand why it is justified," and added, "The political establishment is hastily trying to take TikTok away from 150 million American users."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Democratic Party House Representative
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the end of last year, the U.S. Congress included a provision banning TikTok use on government devices in the 2023 fiscal year budget bill (October 2022 to September 2023). Then, during the House hearing on the 23rd, lawmakers from both parties strongly pressed TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

In U.S. political circles, there is even consideration of completely banning TikTok in the United States due to concerns over the Chinese government's access to and surveillance of TikTok users' information.

So far, only a very small number of lawmakers, including Representative Jamaal Bowman, have opposed the TikTok ban in Congress, all of whom belong to the Democratic progressive wing. Bowman has raised his voice, saying, "The TikTok ban is an anti-China statement rooted in xenophobia."

In this situation, the involvement of star politician AOC, who has over 13 million Twitter followers, is expected to significantly empower the advocates.

However, unlike Bowman, AOC did not link the political opposition to TikTok with anti-China sentiment. Instead, she proposed strengthening the collection and management of personal information on social media, as implemented in Europe, as an alternative.

AOC, who comes from a Puerto Rican immigrant family, was elected in 2018 as the representative for New York's 14th congressional district at the age of 29, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives. Since then, she has gained great popularity, especially among young people, by advocating radical policies such as wealth tax, guaranteed national jobs, full college tuition forgiveness, and healthcare reform.