 TikTok CEO is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today, in what I'm assuming will be an effort to convince US lawmakers to not ban TikTok. And I'm sure that that hearing is going to be incredibly unhinged, because as you're probably aware of by now, the vitriol towards TikTok is pretty bipartisan. Both Democrats and Republicans cite security concerns since the app is owned by China, and even some accuse the app of transing the kids, and no, that's not a joke. Do you think that the rising amount of kids identifying as trans is largely because of TikTok? Yes, I think it is absolutely a social contagion, and I think TikTok is a big driver of that. So about 45 seconds, explain to the older listeners that might be skeptical of that why. How could somebody become trans because of a social media app? Well, the idea of TikTok is to target kids, right? You don't see really a lot of older people on it. It's very kid-friendly, and the Chinese algorithm, they feed the stuff specifically to American kids. So they're feeding these trans activists content, telling kids, look, go on Puberty Blockers. You might be the opposite gender, maybe you'll be happier. I believe that it's a really sophisticated algorithm that's directly feeding this to our children. That's exactly right. I just want everyone to understand, I mean, look, TikTok owned by the Chinese Communist Party, we have enough evidence for me to say this. I go to authority believe, and I think any rational person would, that the Chinese Communist Party military installations are programming the algorithm to make our children more likely to be trans, to try to get young men to be ashamed of their country. The CCP has a gateway into every single one of our kids via TikTok. Ah, yes, China, famous friend to trans people, as we all know, who is seeking to algorithmically manipulate the world into becoming trans through TikTok. That's why they built the app, probably. Seems very, very plausible. I shouldn't have to explain this, but it doesn't work that way. Being trans is not contagious, and even if it were, you certainly couldn't catch it through TikTok, but on top of that, if you could convince someone to be trans or gay, don't you think that 100% of the population would be straight and cis, considering that's what we see the most of? I mean, these people are so stupid that I don't even know if they think about the words that come out of their mouth sometimes. Now that might be the dumbest argument in favor of banning TikTok, but in truth, no one, in my opinion, has actually made a good argument to ban TikTok, and really no lawmakers up until this point have been willing to condemn the fear mongering around TikTok. But Congressman Jamal Bowman is perhaps the only lawmaker, at least to my knowledge, to publicly condemn the idea of banning TikTok, and that's good, because banning TikTok is a very dumb idea. NBC News reports, quote, this is a space where these creators have found a platform to share their ideas, their inspirations, their thoughts, their voices with the rest of the country, and the rest of the world. And why do we want to take that away, Bowman told NBC News. Why do we need to ban a platform that 150 million Americans now use? There are many apps on our phones right now that are Chinese apps, and so the idea that, oh, TikTok is the boogeyman, it's just part of a political fear mongering that's happening, said Bowman, who posts frequently on the video sharing app and has a substantial following himself. He compared criticism of TikTok to Republican fear mongering about an open border and the debt limit, as well as xenophobia around China. Quote, I haven't seen any hard evidence that TikTok is committing some form of espionage, he said. What I've heard is speculation, and what I've heard is innuendo. Bingo, both parties have failed to demonstrate why TikTok specifically poses some unique threat to US security and have to warrant a ban. Now, listen, if they want to restrict the use of TikTok on government devices as many governments around the world have already done, I think that that's perfectly reasonable. If it's a security threat, that's how you handle it. But to ban it for everyone, that to me is just unreasonable. It's almost certainly the case that TikTok is indeed collecting user data. I admit this, they're doing it for advertising purposes at a minimum. Perhaps they are using the algorithm to sow discord among Americans, if we needed any help with that. But if these are all reasons that lead you to the conclusion that we should ban TikTok, then why just limit the ban to TikTok? We already know what other tech companies do. Facebook's whistleblower informed us that their algorithm intentionally sows discord among users in order to increase engagement. Google also exploits user data that it collects. Every major tech company, regardless of their country of origin, violates user privacy in overt and egregious ways. And it's not worse simply because China does it, it's bad when they all do it. That's the reality, though. As users, we do deserve privacy. We need a digital bill of rights. We need regulations. What we don't need, however, is the U.S. government singling out one app purely for political reasons. Furthermore, how many U.S. lawmakers calling for a TikTok ban have accepted campaign contributions from other tech companies like Google or Facebook? How is that not a conflict of interest? How do we know this isn't just another instance where U.S. politicians are doing the bidding of their donors? Because, obviously, it would benefit companies like Google and Facebook to see their biggest competitor banned. I mean, why do you think YouTube recently introduced shorts? It's because they're trying to compete with TikTok, who's winning right now in the social media war. Now, that's all speculation. I have no idea if the result of this TikTok ban or the proposed ban is due to corruption. But what I will say is that banning TikTok is a very bad idea that I do not support. And to the extent that the Biden administration chooses to move forward with this plan, it will backfire. Some users whose livelihoods depend on the platform's existence are justifiably angry, and they're already making their voices known by protesting. And the Biden administration, I don't think that they seem to realize how a ban would undeniably enrage younger voters and backfire, as NBC News explains. In 2020, Aiden Cohn Murphy used TikTok to rally support for Joe Biden. Now, he's trying to use the platform to stop Biden from killing it. Quote, I'm not defending TikTok as a company. I'm defending my entire generation, said the 19-year-old Harvard freshman, who, as a high schooler during the 2020 campaign, founded a group called TikTok for Biden. It has since changed its name to Gen Z for Change, formally incorporated as a political nonprofit, and says it now includes 500 creators with a combined 500 million followers on multiple platforms. If they went ahead with banning TikTok, it would feel like a slap in the face to a lot of young Americans, added Cohn Murphy. Democrats don't understand the political consequences this would have. Some worry that if Washington bans Gen Z's favorite app for reasons that most are likely unfamiliar with, accusations that the app is collecting users' location data and sharing it with the Chinese government, it might leave a lasting mark on an entire generation, depressing turnout, increasing apathy, and shaping their view of the role of the federal government. Banning TikTok? I mean, are you trying to engage young voters or not? What are we doing here? Representative Jamal Bowman, a former middle school principal and member of the Progressive Squad, said in an interview. Quote, they will absolutely stay at home. There's no question about that. And again, Jamal Bowman is absolutely correct here, and I hope that more lawmakers speak out against this. This is going to unquestionably backfire. If all of a sudden YouTube was banned and I lost the platform that I spent years building up, I would never forget that. And I would be sure to punish the politicians responsible for its demise at the very next election. And it's not just to be clear the influencers who we should be considering here. It's also the average users who I'm assuming use the app because it brings them joy and happiness. Why take that away from them? Why take that away from 150 million people in America only? Now look, with that being said, I fully acknowledge that any app that I use is going to transmit data to corporations and foreign governments, and I hate that. But I'm at least aware of the risk. I know about the risk. So if the Chinese government learns about my affinity for funny cat TikToks and low calorie recipes, I find that as disturbing as Facebook knowing about these interests that I have as well. The goal shouldn't be to arbitrarily punish one company. The goal for lawmakers across the globe who's concerned about TikTok should be to create international standards so as to protect all the user data on all apps, make sure they're encrypted and protected from third parties. But those are just my thoughts. But this is probably a pretty good time to let you know that the Humanist Report is also on TikTok. So be sure to give us a follow there while you still can.