TikTok lobbyist on board of AOC-advised group funded by China's ByteDance: 'Influence peddling'

Gabe Kaminsky

April 04, 11:35 AM April 04, 11:35 AM

One of the top lobbyists for TikTok sits on the board of directors of a nonprofit group that has pocketed cash from the app's Chinese parent company ByteDance and is advised by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a staunch opponent of banning TikTok in the United States, records show.

Ocasio-Cortez opens herself up to a conflict of interest by railing against TikTok ban proposals while helping to advise the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit group that in December 2022 received $150,000 from ByteDance, watchdog groups previously told the Washington Examiner. That same charity, which used the funds to support members of its affiliated Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has a board member named Jesse Price who is TikTok's public policy director, according to its website and most recent publicly available tax forms.

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"There appears to be a conflict of interest between AOC's position supporting TikTok on several levels," Paul Kamenar, counsel to the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative ethics watchdog that is weighing legal action, told the Washington Examiner. "This kind of influence peddling from a Communist China company raises serious ethical questions."

Ocasio-Cortez joined TikTok last month and posted a video in which she raised concerns over the idea of a TikTok ban, which has picked up steam as Congress weighs national and privacy security concerns over the app's ties to China. President Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion spending package in December 2022 that banned the app from government devices, which has not stopped several "Squad" members, including Ocasio-Cortez, from maintaining active app accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers, the Washington Examiner reported.

It's unclear whether the Squad Democrats, which also include the likes of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), have used official devices for their TikTok posts. Several bills have been introduced to restrict TikTok in the U.S., including one by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) that would ban the app outright. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and John Thune (R-SD) are behind legislation that would grant further powers to the Commerce Department to examine if foreign business deals pose security risks.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, which was founded in 1978 by Hispanic members of Congress, received a $150,000 contribution on Dec. 13, 2022, from ByteDance as part of the company's expansive lobbying blitz that year, according to federal disclosures. TikTok and ByteDance, a multibillion-dollar Chinese technology company with links to the Chinese Communist Party, have spent over $13.4 million lobbying the federal government since 2019, disclosures show.

Price was first listed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in 2019 as a board member, according to tax forms. Before joining TikTok in 2020, he lobbied on behalf of the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company from 2008 and 2020, disclosures show.

Between 2020 and 2022, Price appeared in ByteDance lobbying disclosures totaling over $10.7 million. He's made $7,750 in campaign donations during his time at TikTok, which have been to Democrats, including Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), campaign finance disclosures show.

It's unclear when TikTok and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute first initiated a partner relationship. In 2022, TikTok helped sponsor the institute's annual awards gala, which recognizes Latino leaders "across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors," documents show.

TikTok received publicity on half a page in the awards gala's program — noting it "salutes" the charity "and its mission to develop the next generation of Latino leaders."

"We work to engage policymakers, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders across the political spectrum on issues that are important to our business and to the diverse and vibrant community on our platform," Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, told the Washington Examiner. "As a company that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion, TikTok is strongly aligned with CHCI's mission of developing leadership skills and public service opportunities for Latinos in the public policy space."

One watchdog group, however, said the situation "looks like the D.C. swamp in action."

"The TikTok lobbyist is on the board of the institute with several members of Congress, while TikTok’s parent company made a big donation," Pete McGinnis, a spokesman for the Functional Government Initiative, told the Washington Examiner. "Now, one of the institute’s advisory board members is defending the company in Congress against bipartisan scrutiny. All this raises concerns, but sadly it seems like another example of the dysfunctional way D.C. operates."

Still, not all institute board members are pro-TikTok.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said in mid-February that he would vote in favor of a national app ban. Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL), another board member, pressed TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a late-March House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing — asking if the company would be ready to divest from ByteDance and its CCP ties if the Treasury Department demanded it to do so.

Chew pushed back on the idea of divestment, noting he does not think "ownership is the issue here."

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and Ocasio-Cortez's office did not reply to requests for comment.

TikTok ban advances in House in most serious threat yet to the ubiquitous app

Christopher Hutton

March 01, 10:13 AM March 01, 10:13 AM

The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced legislation Tuesday that could ban TikTok in the United States on national security grounds because of its ties to China, the most serious threat yet to the social media platform.

The committee approved legislation that would make it easier to ban the China-owned app and allow regulators to crack down on China-related economic activities. The bill was introduced by Chairman Michael McCaul on Friday and fast-tracked for a vote alongside several other China-related bills.

The bill, titled Deterring America's Technological Adversaries Act, explicitly named TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, and would have President Joe Biden impose penalties on the company if the administration can determine that the company has knowingly transferred a user's data to "any foreign person" working with the Chinese government.

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China would also be sanctioned if the White House were to determine that the company had helped China or the Chinese Communist Party engage in surveillance, hacking, censorship, or espionage. Sanctions could also be implemented if TikTok or another company was found to help the Chinese government influence elections or manipulate U.S. lawmaking.

While China hawks have pushed for similar restrictions on China and TikTok, some have attacked the legislation for its effects on trade and speech. The bill, the DATA Act, would change the Berman Amendment of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in a manner that would affect speech across borders. The Berman Amendment currently prohibits the U.S. government from restricting the trade of "informational materials" with foreign countries. This rule is one of the main roadblocks standing in the way of the enactment of a national TikTok ban.

The company faces increased pressure from lawmakers, including multiple proposed bills to ban the app from operating within the United States. Several liberal lawmakers have pushed for these bills in recent days, including Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA). Previously, Republicans had been more skeptical of TikTok.

TikTok is operated out of China, which places it under the power of the Chinese Communist Party. If the CCP wished, it could use Chinese national security laws to force ByteDance to provide access to its user data. The company claims that they have circumvented this law by storing all U.S. data on servers in Texas, but it has not stopped others from accusing the company of espionage.

Congress has already passed a ban on installing TikTok on government devices. The White House told government agencies they had 30 days to remove the app from all relevant devices.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to speak before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23.

SEE IT: Oklahoma Gov. Stitt bans TikTok, joining GOP governors across the country

Julia Johnson

December 08, 08:06 PM December 08, 08:06 PM

Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) banned the social media app TikTok on state devices by executive order on Thursday.

"No executive branch employee or agency of the State of Oklahoma shall download or use the TikTok application or visit the TikTok website on government networks or government-issued devices, including State-issued cellphones, computers, or any other device capable of internet connectivity, and that TikTok shall be blacklisted from State networks and State-managed devices," reads the order.

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“Maintaining the cybersecurity of state government is necessary to continue to serve and protect Oklahoma citizens and we will not participate in helping the Chinese Communist Party gain access to government information,” Stitt said.

With this move, the governor follows the lead of Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who set off a domino effect last week when she issued an executive order banning the app from state devices. Since then, GOP Govs. Henry McMaster (SC), Larry Hogan (MD), and Greg Abbott (TX) have taken similar actions.

On Wednesday, Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a lawsuit against the app, alleging that it deceives and exposes young users to inappropriate content. He further claimed that TikTok violated the state's laws by not properly disclosing the level of access that Chinese employees have to U.S. user data.

“The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well the harms it inflicts on users,” Rokita said.

WATCH: Obama turns to TikTok to get out vote for midterm elections

Jenny Goldsberry

November 02, 06:46 PM November 02, 06:46 PM

Former President Barack Obama made a cameo appearance in a TikTok video on Tuesday to encourage voters ahead of the midterm elections.

Obama appeared in the video from an account called "Under the Desk News," which features a host, Vitus Spehar, who reports the news from the floor under a desk. The account has over 2.7 million followers, with Obama's cameo garnering over 1.4 million views and 500,000 likes.

"Here's the thing: You can stay [under the desk] for now, but when it comes time for voting, you're going to have to get up," Obama said. "You got climate change legislation on the ballot, you got gun safety. And, when we can elect more pro-choice members of Congress, we can reinstitute Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. So, you can't stay here. You're going to have to take a little bit of time to vote."

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"In 2008 I voted the way my Dad did," Spehar captioned the video, referring to his vote for John McCain. "I’m grateful for the work President Obama did to secure marriage equality and will be voting this term to protect these hard earned rights."

Spehar added a link to his TikTok bio that includes a link to register to vote. Obama would also appear in another TikTok with another influencer to the tune of 8 million views.

"Obama has officially joined in the Democrats’ new fool-proof plan for whenever they need to push an agenda," Twitter account Libs of TikTok tweeted. "Collaborating with TikTokers."

"So a former sitting president is encouraging Americans to use a platform that both sides of the political aisle agree is a ChiCom surveillance tool," former radio host John Cardillo tweeted.

The former president was recently at a rally in Georgia where he encouraged voters to "put down your phone and give TikTok a rest and VOTE.”

Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr was quoted in a Tuesday interview as calling for a complete ban on the social media platform.

CEO has significantly less electric power than Chinese proprietors do over TikTok, previous staff say

Christopher Hutton

September 16, 03:42 PM September 16, 03:42 PM

Chinese executives have more impact above TikTok's day-to-day operations than the firm disclosed soon after it appointed the Singapore-born Shou Zi Chew as CEO in an attempt to dilute the social media app's relationship to China, previous staff reported.

Conclusions about TikTok's operations and strategy are built by Zhang Yiming, the Chinese founder of TikTok proprietor ByteDance, in accordance to a dozen previous employees interviewed by the New York Occasions. These incorporated selections about emphasizing livestreaming and purchasing on the platform.

The claims present insight into the romance in between the social media network, which is the most downloaded application in the world and has received preeminence among the young Individuals, with its Chinese mother or father firm.

TikTok's expansion and technique groups never report to Chew but to ByteDance's office in Beijing, the workers claimed. TikTok's community relations staff claimed that Chew was eventually accountable for solution and approach, whilst the workers claimed he was far more concerned in the finances and functions.

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Chew was elevated in Singapore and started out operating at Facebook as an intern in 2010 prior to founding a Chinese news aggregator that would become the foundation of ByteDance. He still left the company to provide as the chief financial officer for the Chinese electronics enterprise Xiaomi in 2015 and led its 1st community presenting. He was later on invited again to act as CFO for TikTok in March 2021, only to be promoted to CEO in Might 2021 following the enterprise lacked a CEO for a number of months thanks to Kevin Mayer stepping down amid the Trump administration's attempts to restrict TikTok's unfold in the United States.

When Chew's appointment served the company circumvent Chinese and U.S. concerns, he had fewer electricity than a conventional CEO could. Any improvements to TikTok's main application and options operate by way of Zhang and numerous other ByteDance executives owing to the business commonly testing new attributes in the Chinese marketplace prior to releasing them all over the world. Chew's preference as CEO was partly affected by the optics concerned, the previous workers stated.

Chew's role in the organization has gained scrutiny as tech executives and lawmakers resolved the business and its relationship with China. Most speakers at the Code Convention, a newsmaking celebration that functions lawmakers and executives, slammed TikTok and advisable limiting it.

TikTok's main working officer, Vanessa Pappas, evaded many queries from lawmakers on the firm's interactions with China and its safety techniques in an overall look before Congress on Wednesday. She also avoided a number of queries about no matter if the corporation had connections to the Chinese Communist Party and whether or not Chinese employees experienced accessibility to U.S. information, based mostly on a Buzzfeed News report.

TikTok influencer Tanya Pardazi dies in skydiving incident at 21

Jenny Goldsberry

September 03, 12:06 PM September 03, 12:24 PM

A 21-calendar year-old skydiving scholar died through a solo dive in Canada.

Tanya Pardazi was an up-and-coming TikTok influencer when she jumped on the solo training course on Aug. 27, gaining 95,000 followers. She was a university student at Skydive Toronto Inc., a university that demands ground schooling prior to solo dives. Pardazi had been through the coaching, according to her last TikTok, in which she described attending skydiving class.

Pardazi allegedly opened her parachute at too low an altitude, in accordance to a assertion from the skydiving faculty. When the parachute didn't inflate, she fell to her loss of life. Pardazi was then transported to a close by clinic, where by she was pronounced dead.

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"Canopy incidents are the primary trigger of demise and harm," according to the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association.

"The jumper was a welcomed current addition to the skydiving group and will be skipped among the student's new mates and fellow jumpers at Skydive Toronto Inc," the statement from the university study. "The crew at Skydive Toronto Inc has been profoundly affected by this accident as they have refined their scholar teaching program for in excess of 50 several years."

It is unclear if Pardazi is the school's 1st described skydiving death. Skydive Toronto Inc. did not react to the Washington Examiner's request for remark. The university is in the midst of cooperating with the South Simcoe Law enforcement in its investigation into Pardazi's loss of life.

"Eternally element of our team and in our hearts," Pardazi's former cheerleading squad at the College of Toronto Scarborough posted on Instagram. "Tanya Pardazi was a person in a million."

The United States Parachute Affiliation recorded 10 lethal skydiving mishaps in 2021, which is the most affordable on report at a price of .28 fatalities per 100,000 jumps.

Vast majority of youngsters are on TikTok, and pretty much all are on YouTube

Christopher Hutton

August 10, 03:11 PM August 10, 03:11 PM

Teenagers in the United States appear to favor TikTok and YouTube in excess of all other social media platforms.

Teenage buyers said that they most popular the two popular online video platforms, in accordance to details released by the Pew Study Middle on Wednesday. The study company unveiled the preference for the two social networks as TikTok carries on to facial area tension from legislators and critics for its ties to the Chinese governing administration.

Just about all, 95%, of U.S. teenagers mentioned they have applied YouTube prior to, whilst 67% mentioned they utilized TikTok.

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The image-concentrated social networks Instagram and Snapchat have witnessed a surge of curiosity among the young people. Sixty-two % of teens say that they have utilized Instagram, whilst 59% mentioned they made use of Snapchat, according to Pew. That is a recognizable surge of interest since 2015, when only 52% of adolescents stated they applied Instagram, and 41% said they experienced applied Snapchat.

The more mature platforms have also lost curiosity amid adolescents. Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr have all observed their teenage end users fall substantially since 2015, reflecting that the platforms are having difficulties to catch the attention of younger users.

App use fees differed by gender and by race. Female young adults were being a lot more probable to use TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat than male teenagers, in accordance to Pew. Black youngsters ended up also a lot more probably to use TikTok than white or Hispanic youngsters.

While TikTok is common with teenage users, it has captivated the attention of legislators for different factors. TikTok's guardian organization ByteDance has acquired several letters from lawmakers about issues about Chinese personnel accessing U.S. users' info. ByteDance's management has verified that Chinese personnel have obtain to U.S. facts, albeit constrained by way of safety protocols. TikTok's CEO also claims the business has hardly ever shared information with the Chinese Communist Celebration. However, ByteDance has promoted Chinese information by way of other applications, which include its English language news aggregator.

As the selection of teenage customers grows, applications have had to adapt amid scrutiny in excess of kid privateness. Snap, Snapchat's guardian firm, announced Monday that it experienced implemented more controls for mother and father to supervise their kid's perform, which include the means to see who is messaging their little ones. Meta announced in March that it was introducing a "Family members Centre" for Instagram to supply resources for mom and dad to retain teens risk-free.

US TikTok person information accessed in China in spite of denials, report suggests

Misty Severi

June 17, 06:16 PM June 17, 06:16 PM

Private details from TikTok end users in the United States may have been accessed in China, in accordance to a report Friday.

The revelations insert credence to fears that China can entry the nonpublic information of U.S. citizens regardless of denials from TikTok. The common social media app's dad or mum firm, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, and the Chinese govt owns a stake in its domestic device.

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Recordings reviewed and described by Buzzfeed consisted of statements from TikTok staff throughout 80 inner meetings that recommended engineers in China experienced entry to U.S. person details from September 2021 as a result of January 2022, which would conflict with the company's general public assertions that such details would be safeguarded.

“We know we’re among the the most scrutinized platforms from a safety standpoint, and we purpose to take out any doubt about the stability of U.S. person facts,” TikTok spokeswoman Maureen Shanahan instructed the outlet. “That’s why we seek the services of gurus in their fields, continuously get the job done to validate our safety requirements, and carry in highly regarded, impartial third functions to take a look at our defenses."

All U.S. consumer information is getting transferred to the cloud servers operate by Oracle, with facts centers in Virginia and Singapore applied as backups, the corporation introduced in a Friday site article.

Issues about countrywide safety have long been lifted in the U.S. in excess of China's impact and entry to TikTok data. The Trump administration took some techniques to crack down on the app and even thought of a ban but backed off soon after a federal courtroom get.

The Biden administration ditched the Trump-period government orders against TikTok and other Chinese applications and replaced them, saying extensive information selection on apps “threatens to offer international adversaries with access to that facts.” The president purchased Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other Biden officials to perform assessments of Chinese applications.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), the prime Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, reported the BuzzFeed report must provide as a wake-up connect with.

"For TikTok to knowingly allow for the Chinese Communist Party to access American consumer data is unacceptable and a complete betrayal of our trust," McMorris Rodgers explained to the Washington Examiner in a statement. "TikTok has gone on document a lot of times professing that they do not share U.S. user knowledge with the Chinese govt, CCP, or any Chinese condition-owned entities. We now know that is not the scenario and simply cannot be permitted to happen with no consequence. ... This need to be a wake-up phone for anybody who believes Individuals are entitled to on line privateness and info safety protections. Significant Tech have to be exposed for how it sends Americans’ facts to China.”