Have you ever spoken with Donald Trump? Have you ever met him?
Statistically speaking, by far the vast majority of American voters have never seen, much less met, the candidates they will be voting for this fall. The only way we know them is through the media and advertisements.
This leaves a lot of room for third parties to interfere with the knowledge we derive about these candidates. And indeed, there is a terrible and fearsome foe that is rigging the U.S. elections.
I am not just referring to TikTok, the controversial app with ties far too close to the Chinese Communist Party. I am also referring to American social media companies, which the politicians are allowing to get away with this.
But let’s start with TikTok, which more than 170 million Americans use (including both of our presidential candidates). This is after clear evidence that China is using TikTok to spread disinformation, including anti-American propaganda.
Do you think it was a coincidence that Osama bin Laden’s “letter to America” went viral on TikTok shortly after the October 7 massacre of Jews by Hamas, and the day after President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the subject?
TikTok is the single biggest carrier of disinformation in the U.S. It is responsible for the radicalization of two generations of Americans. It is as dangerous as it gets. And dozens of congressman and both of our presidential candidates (who used to advocate a ban of TikTok) are now dancing away on it for anyone who cares to watch.
In fact, it would be “politically insane” for Democrats to ban TikTok, given their need to reach young voters. Yet there is clear evidence that TikTok spread false information about the 2020 election to hundreds of thousands of American voters. Do you think it magically isn’t going to do it in 2024?
Perhaps it’s just common sense that a platform controlled by our biggest global competitor would be used against us. But even more insidious are the American social media giants that are allowing this same interference by foreign adversaries.
Apple, in the name of profit, has allowed innumerable apps that are little more than tools owned and created by Russia, China and Iran to infiltrate the American public. For example, FaceApp (the social media app that ages you) had about over 80 million downloads by American citizens, with the terms and conditions saying that the Russian-owned company, with connections to Vladimir Putin’s regime, could use their uploaded images “in perpetuity.” In other words, you can expect a few million Twitter bots at least, using real Americans’ faces and names, coming at you in the election disinformation cycle.
Grindr, a gay dating app, was sold to a Chinese tech firm in 2018. The U.S. is now forcing it to be sold back, citing a national security risk. The users of the app input their locations and even HIV status. Now all that information is potentially in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party — a perfect recipe for blackmail against U.S. civilian and military leaders.
(cont.)
Opinion: They are rigging the US election, and we’re letting them get away with it (msn.com)