TikToker running for Congress reacts to app’s potential U.S. ban | Canada Tonight

Tik Tok users are closely watching this bill and one of them is Cheyenne hunt the Gen Zed or gen Z influencer is running for congress in 2024 with nearly 100,000 followers on Tik Tok she’s been using her platform to share her message with voters and she joins me now from

Fullerton California so I I I’d love to get your take first off of uh this potential ban is it a good idea is it not absolutely and thanks for having me look let’s be clear we absolutely need to regulate social media but Banning a single app without addressing the

Overall issue that’s at stake here is a mistake and what is the overall issue yeah absolutely we’re the Congress has rightfully expressed concerns that there are National Security risks and that there are data privacy concerns when it comes to a foreign adversary controlling a major social media

Platform but the truth is those risks are present across the entire internet right now we don’t have comprehensive data privacy legislation that applies to social media more broadly and so eliminating Tik Tok does nothing to actually address the concerns there they say you know this legislation would address whether it’s Facebook or

Instagram we’ve seen foreign adversaries use those channels as well to use and abuse our data for their own interests and so I’d really like to see Congress think more critically about what we can do to really address these concerns versus attacking a single app and worsening a problem we have already

Across the world with you know social media being controlled by just a handful of powerful corporations you have almost 100,000 followers uh how has Tik Tok helped you when it comes to building a political career Tik Tok has helped uh me tremendously just as social media has

For folks all across the world when it comes to you know pursuing their interests whether it’s advocacy politics growing their small and medium-sized businesses and even staying connected to friends and family so it would be a a definitely a misguided thing to say that this app is you know easily replaced and

That social media is something that’s not become essential to our way of life and we need to think more critically about the way that we regulate it are you concerned that that the Chinese government may have access to all of your personal information deeply I’m deeply concerned

With the state of data privacy uh both at home and abroad and the truth is I know that they they do they have access to our information through Tik Tok but not Tik Tok alone they also have access to that information through the data that Facebook is collecting that Google

Is collecting because we don’t have comprehensive data privacy legislation China Russia foreign adversaries people uh domestic terrorists that information is pretty widely available and easily accessible and so I urge Congress to you know be informed and to think more critically about how we can legislate to fix this problem problem Beyond just a

Single app let me just push back on you a bit though because you know I I I’m assuming you know the the the criticism that would be well okay but uh Facebook meta that is and Google those are American based and owned companies uh bite dance is not yeah absolutely but the ownership

Doesn’t necessarily dictate the fact that the access to the that data is still uh not confined by borders by nationality and the truth is It’s a larger problem and what we do when we ban a single app like Tik Tok that has actually posed a challenge to something

Like meta is we just further consolidate power in the hands of a few unaccountable billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg who we know use and abuse our data and what we’ve done is remove a single competitor from that Marketplace and further Consolidated that power versus really regulating the root of the

Problem regulating the fact that this is a national security risk across the board and we should expect our lawmakers to do better and think more critically about the way that they’re going to this regulation I know that you talked to one of my producers uh you know Nama about

Uh the the fact that you know there’s a there’s a contrast here the lawmakers are uh older a lot of the people that want to see Tik Tok stick around or are folks like you uh Gen X gen Zed uh what do you make of that contrast and do you

Think that there might be a knowledge Gap here when it comes to how powerful uh Tik Tok has been for this generation there’s a huge knowledge Gap and I mean frankly it’s it’s just going to be the way that it is when the average age of the American lawmaker is

Well into their 60s or 70s and frankly you know you’ve got a generation like mine that has grown up in this new reality that is you know very online and very connected and we see publicly in in some of these hearings the huge misunderstandings that these lawmakers

Have about the basics of how this technology works and who’s filling that void who’s filling that gap for them when it comes to an understanding of these Technologies is the lobbyists the big Tech lobbyists who are paid by those companies to push their talking points so that’s the only information that

They’re getting and I think that’s why we’re seeing bad one-sided policy coming out of Capitol Hill right now and if we want a shot at really regulating these things well we need to get younger voices in Congress sh I’m out of time but I do want to ask you one quick last

Question I if Tik Tok goes away in the United States what are you going to do to get your message out we’re going to do whatever we have to do whether it’s you know move it to a different platform or continue to go where the viewers are because that’s our responsibility public

Servants and Advocates is to make sure we’re speaking to people where they can hear us okay Cheyenne appreciate you being here on Canada tonight that is cheyen hunt a Jen Zed tick tocker running for congress thank you

Cheyenne Hunt, a Gen Z politician who has relied on social media to build her political career, talks about the effects a potential TikTok ban could have in the United States.

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