On Thursday’s MSNBC broadcast of “The Andrea Mitchell Report,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke out against legislation to force ByteDance to exit TikTok. Defending the no vote, he said: “People are trying their best to look hawkish.” against China. And that instinct isn’t a bad thing. China is doing a lot of things that we wish they wouldn’t do. But China is also where we have $700 billion in trade and where we have certain common interests that we should work on together. ”
After host Andrea Mitchell brought up reports of Chinese interference in the 2022 election, Himes said: I spend a lot of time thinking about it, but it’s a tangible threat. This is primarily a potential threat because so far we have not seen the Chinese using TikTok as a means to influence elections. But this is also a broader topic. Spend some time on Twitter. Let’s take a look at the influence that Elon Musk has. My point here is that if Congress was serious about addressing this threat, it would start with a federal privacy bill. But more importantly, why I voted against it. More importantly, I’m pretty serious about supporting the First Amendment, and I’m pretty serious about freedom of expression. And the U.S. government told 150 million Americans, this is what would happen if ByteDance didn’t sell TikTok, the government told 150 million Americans, you’re already in this protected event. Please tell them that you will not be able to participate in the event. First of all, you will run into First Amendment issues. We saw it in Montana, where they tried this. And secondly, throughout our history as a nation, we’ve been telling dictatorships that they can’t shut down newspapers, they can’t shut down public squares, and that America needs to take that step with this bill. It’s here. That was a consideration for all four days in the House, but I just wasn’t going to participate in it. ”
Mitchell then discussed why the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), support this bill. I asked Himes what he thought.
“I have a lot of respect for both of them, but one of the things that’s happening on Capitol Hill right now is that people are going all out to make it seem like they’re hawkish on China,” Himes said. “That’s true,” he answered. And that instinct isn’t a bad thing. China is doing a lot of things that we wish they wouldn’t do. But China is also where we have $700 billion in trade and where we have certain common interests that we should work on together. So just because Congress is completely collapsing to show how hawkish each member is on China, the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, and the things we all pledge to uphold. It doesn’t mean violating the constitution. That is necessarily the right thing to do. ”
“I would be happier if TikTok didn’t end up being owned by a Chinese company,” he concluded. I would be happier if their algorithm were here in the US. …I hope the temperament is there. But remember, Andrea, and this is really important, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms are all completely unregulated and completely uncontrolled. Because Congress has failed in its fundamental duty to pass privacy laws. Until we do that, Andrea, we are not in a position to be overly preachy about the dangers associated with social media, as the Europeans are doing, as California is doing. These dangers – Like I said, spend 10 minutes on Twitter – and you’ll see a lot of work to do with all social media platforms before you start raving about any particular one. It turns out that there is. ”
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