Two major events took place within these past few weeks gaining attention from Americans around the country. One of them, the congressional hearing with the current CEO of Tikok, took place on March 23, 2023, and just days later, the fatal Nashville school shooting occurred on March 27, 2023. While both events pushed lawmakers to have discussions regarding the two issues, the spotlight seemed to illuminate equally, if not more on the issues surrounding Tiktok’s data collection and the risks it may pose to teens and children, rather than the persistent issue of gun violence that the Nashville shooting reflected. This is leading many Americans to think about the priorities of Congress, and how they oftentimes don’t reflect the serious issues that the country faces.
Before comparing the two issues side by side, it is important to understand the context of both and how they play a role in American politics. Gun violence was officially announced as the leading cause of death for American children, surpassing car accidents (NYT). A statistic like this should theoretically urge lawmakers to not only pivot their attention to this issue but to establish regulations or reforms to combat this deadly disease. However, time after time congress has continued to let each case of gun violence go, failing to make drastic and necessary changes. This continuous pattern is generally a result of one major factor: bipartisan support. While reforms have been proposed in government, many Republicans have failed to vote in favor of them because either they don’t want to support a democratic policy, oppose the views of their voters, or often times, because they are paid by or are facing pressure from organizations that advocate for gun freedom, and as a result, this continuous cycle occurs.
Data privacy is also another concern that is arising in politics, as various social media platforms are taking advantage of users interests in order to make money and sell them to other companies. However, politicians are skeptical about Tiktok’s platform geared toward younger individuals, and how users’ information may be linked to the Chinese government. In the congressional hearing on March 23, Shou Chew testified before lawmakers questioning him on the basis of this issue, but the discussion revealed the rather strange and irrelevant questions they asked. One representative, Buddy Carter, asked whether the app tracks pupil dilation as a form of facial recognition to drive algorithms (CNN). This question among various other mockable inquiries about the app received backlash from Tiktok users seeing videos of this hearing, which represented mockery and irrelevance instead of insightful and important questions.
When comparing these two issues, I decided to consider the level of urgency to which each of them are considered. I believe the most important legislative decisions should be made depending on how acute their effects will be on the country. Additionally, with their relevance, decisions should also be made depending on their effects on the citizens themselves. In this case, gun violence not only affects citizens to a level of death but also spans all circumstances. Essentially, at the level to which it is happening, gun violence has become a part of the average American citizen’s life and more importantly, a situation that they cannot choose to be in. While on the other hand, data privacy and security concerns seem to affect many Americans, but it is both a circumstance that they can choose to be a part of and most importantly, does not come at the expense of their own lives. So we are really comparing the difference between an issue that concerns privacy, and one that concerns death. In my opinion, this speaks volumes about how America has decided to prioritize its policies, but even more so, on how much attention they truly get in light of one being more urgent than the other. Data privacy with social media is no doubt a major issue in America, no less the world. But when comparing it to a more acute issue such as gun violence, it does not have the same effects, and therefore should not be given a remotely similar problem.
Perhaps the average person living and growing up outside of the U.S. could view this behavior as hysterical; how does a nation continue to ignore its own problems with firearms which result in death, but allow issues such as data privacy to gain an equal platform? I interviewed Dr. Rabuck to gain insight into how he feels about the situation from a political standpoint. In accordance to the TikTok testimony, he said that he is cynical about congressional hearings in general, as they are meant to shape and gauge public opinion. However, the hysteria about data privacy and security is an equally bipartisan issue, for instance, Biden banned TikTok on all government phones in fear of it being linked to the Chinese government (NPR). So the issue is not entirely biased or out of proportion. However, Republicans are giving the situation much more support because as Dr. Rabuck says, “They are on the wrong side of public opinion so they try to deflect the issue towards something else that makes Democrats look bad”. In reality, 59% of Republicans are in favor of banning assault weapons, the root cause of mass shootings (Forbes). However, Republican politicians decide not to give in to these reforms even if they want to, because they cannot side with policies introduced by Democrats. So instead of arguing against gun reforms, deflecting the issue seems like a better choice.
When asked about how why this pattern of political bias continues to happen despite the lives of Americans, Dr. Rabuck explained the increasing political divide is between “brown and grey”: a population that is very diverse vs. older white people. America is a changing nation, and Republicans can either accept that and skew their policies to attract a more diverse nation or stick to their policies that will keep white people in power if their traditional followers keep voting for them. Because they have chosen the latter, many gun reforms seem radical, and therefore will not be addressed.
Ultimately, in order for change to be made in both gun reforms and in overall congressional priorities is for each party to come to a realization that these issues are more important than money or power. And though it is hard to see that realization happen in the future, it certainly can, as it has in history, take for example views about race or sexuality. Once that initial struggle within politicians is resolved, acute issues can be greatly addressed–it’s just a matter of whether it’s too late.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/14/magazine/gun-violence-children-data-statistics.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/tech/tiktok-user-reaction-hearing/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/20/1144519602/congress-is-about-to-ban-tiktok-from-u-s-government-phones https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/08/23/support-for-stricter-gun-laws-including-among-republicans-remains-high-poll-suggests/?sh=11b5c22a2a24
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