AOC warns Trump's TikTok reversal proves 'this is the eve of an authoritarian... 21st century fascism'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., argued Sunday was the "eve" of an "authoritarian" regime as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.
Ocasio-Cortez posted on her Instagram story a series of videos discussing the aftermath of TikTok resuming U.S. services after locking out users for approximately 12 hours Saturday night. TikTok released a statement reversing course "as a result of President Trump’s efforts."
Ocasio-Cortez ranted against this statement, suggesting this was a sign of TikTok capitulating to the right-wing.
"First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now," Ocasio-Cortez said. "He’s a private citizen. He does not have access to presidential powers. He does not have the ability to do any of that. So, like, please understand that TikTok’s decision to name Trump in the notification is a choice. They are signaling that they are privately collaborating. They have agreed to privately collaborate with Donald Trump and the Trump administration."
She continued, "And for all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is going to be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand that they’re using it as a propaganda tool for the right. Now, I want you all to put all the pieces together because what this effectively means is that every social media platform, mass social media platform in the United States has been taken over by the right wing."
Ocasio-Cortez referenced Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter (renamed X) and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that he would remove third-party fact-checkers as other examples of right-wing control. She further claimed TikTok is following suit with other sites that have "artificially manipulated the algorithm to boost right-wing content."
"TikTok is now saying ‘hey we are agreeing. We will use our push notification system for all 170 million American users to promote Donald Trump,’" Ocasio-Cortez said. "Just understand that government announcements like these with companies, they never name politicians. They will usually name law or policy. TikTok is making an explicit agreement to do this. And if I were a betting person, they probably are making a deal with Donald Trump to not just use these push notifications. They probably would consider algorithmic changes."
She predicted TikTok's actions will be a precursor for Republican control over the media.
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'So what does this mean for us? Well, we are on the eve of an authoritarian administration. This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"This is a time of experimentation," she added. "A lot of people will still use platforms, can still use platforms, but I also look towards places where you have more ownership as well and develop your audiences there."
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The original bill aimed at forcing the Chinese-owned company ByteDance to divest from TikTok was signed into law by President Biden in April. It gave the company nine months to sell the app or risk being banned in the U.S.
The bill was passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support on a 352-65 vote in the House of Representatives. Sixty Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, voted against the bill.