In recent news, the U.S. Senate held a hearing about the Chinese-owned app, TikTok, questioning whether it is a threat to national security. The hearing, however, appeared anything but productive. As a result, this has left many feeling disappointed and frustrated with the hearing’s outcome.
The hearing began with Senator Lindsey Graham trying to force the app to disclose any sums of money they’ve received from the Chinese government, which TikTok denied. Numerous other senators followed suit and repeated the demand, but TikTok maintained that it was a U.S. based company and not connected to the Chinese government.
Unfortunately, much of the hearing was spent arguing over this as senators continued to accuse and press the app. They failed to even mention any security threats that the app posed. It’s clear that the senators had an underlying agenda in this hearing and they were determined to push an accusation that had little basis.
Senator John Neely Kennedy went as far as to say that the app was “a joke.” Many were appalled by the comment. Senator Marsha Blackburn even said the hearing was “quite a mess.” Other senators quickly hopped onto similar bandwagon and began to criticize the hearing for failing to ask for specifics about any security threats that may arise from using the app.
At the same time, more than three million teens in Texas alone have said that they have used the app to express themselves and have raised concerns about potential censorship if the app were to be banned. This concern highlights why the negligence of the senators and failure to delve deeper into the security threats of the app is truly problematic.
Ultimately, it is clear that this hearing wasn’t conducted with the U.S.’s best interests at heart. The senators failed to address any substantial concerns and were determined to push for allegations that had little backup. This hearing has left many feeling that it was a waste of time and taxpayers money, with nothing to show for it. Every day, another new development makes it clear just how much of a mess that hearing really was.
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