When the push for the US federal government to ban TikTok started to gather some real steam in late 2023, the Chinese government started its campaign of disinformation. Playing the deflection card, they attempted to assert that TikTok isn’t gathering intelligence and data on American citizens. Doing everything they could to get lawmakers to ignore the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) level of ownership, they now have started setting meetings with US officials.
As quietly as they can, members of the CCP’s Embassy have been scheduling back-door, off-the-clock, and away-from-work meetings with congressional employees. Lobbying to get a stop on the legislation forcing the CCP to sell TikTok or be banned in the US, they are doing whatever they can. A piece from Politico featured insider info from two Capitol Hill staffers who had first-hand knowledge of the meetings.
Coming to them allegedly on behalf of TikTok, they pushed up their aggression after legislation to force the sale passed back in March. Awaiting action in the Senate, they initially came with their cards closer to their chest and avoided mentioning TikTok, but once it was out there, they embraced it. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they would only reveal that one worked for the House and the other Senate.
TikTok has been trying to curry influence in battleground states this election season. Buying up $2.1 million in television ads in battleground states as things heat up, they have also been buying millions more in social media ads as well. Putting themselves everywhere, they are trying to force the American people to think of it as something as American as apple pie. Yet this is the exact opposite of the American way. Letting other governments have unfettered access to American lives cannot be allowed to stand.
