‘Happy to provide additional basic facts to you or your staff that I learned in elementary school. Ask anytime,’ California Democrat tells Tom Cotton
Tom Cotton is facing widespread criticism after he asked Singaporean TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew if had “ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party”.
The Arkansas Republican senator pursued the much-ridiculed line of questioning during a Senate hearing on child safety on social media on Wednesday, which was attended by a number of big tech CEOs such as Mr Chew.
“You said today, as you often say, that you live in Singapore – of what nation are you a citizen?” Mr Cotton asked.
“Singapore,” the CEO responded.
…
“Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?” Mr Cotton then asked.
“Senator, I’m Singaporean – no,” Mr Chew responded.
Unable to let the matter go, Mr Cotton asked: “Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?”
“No, senator, again, I’m Singaporean,” the tech CEO said.
That’s a terrible question but people should be very leery of TikTok or frankly anything tech that has a significant Chinese share. You cannot realistically separate Chinese businesses from the Chinese government.
They are good at supply chain espionage and not above using something like an app for PsyOp campaigns.
Edit: Just to get ahead of any ‘But the US…’ Where are the Uyghur prison camps again?
You cannot realistically separate US businesses from the US government either, but in the US it’s the businesses that are in control.
The US government and social media companies do have some shady practices, and some people would conclude that means it’s OK to install TikTok… I would conclude the opposite, that one should avoid social media apps from both countries.
Remember to also oppose prison labor in the US.