U.S. lawmakers and experts are concerned about China’s increasing disinformation

U.S. lawmakers warned Thursday that the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to spread disinformation will only increase ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections. As VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, social media giant TikTok is lawmakers’ biggest concern.

U.S. lawmakers warned Thursday that the most important front in the competition between the U.S. and China may be people’s cell phones.

Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher warned of the danger of the social network “TikTok”

“TikTok is perhaps the greatest malicious influence operation ever devised, enabling a CCP (Chinese Communist Party) controlled company to become the dominant media platform and the dominant news platform in America.” That would be a big mistake.”

The spread of misinformation on all social media platforms, including TikTok, could quickly spiral out of control, lawmakers said.

Meanwhile, Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi said, “This profound falsification of Donald Trump is a glimpse into what the future holds for all of us.” As technology evolves, so does the ability to publish fakes undetected on social media.”

How TikTok works is the biggest concern for lawmakers and experts.

John Garnaut from the Australian Institute for Strategic Policy pointed out the danger posed by TikTok.

“TikTok is a more sophisticated option where, at least in theory, it has the ability to target messages to different areas in different parts of the world or to different populations. And there’s an algorithm that nobody has access to, but it’s in China and the Chinese state has not authorized the sale of that algorithm.”

But Chinese business practices can also put social media companies at risk, said one expert.

Freedom House researcher Yaqiu Wang spoke about Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Musk may be particularly vulnerable to pressure from Beijing because he has significant business interests in China. And the CCP is very, very good at exploiting foreign companies access to the country to force them to follow the party.

Experts told lawmakers that TikTok is increasingly becoming the main source of news for many Americans, especially younger ones, but said legislation could still be passed to stop the spread of misinformation.

“Enact regulations that require transparency from all social media platforms, including disclosure policies and their enforcement, as well as the content they promote or censor, as required by the government,” Wang said.

/The Geopost