Meta is finally speaking up about the dangers of the communist Chinese government-tied TikTok.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking new restrictions on Facebook, one of the companies owned by Meta, after the Big Tech giant allegedly failed to adhere to a 2020 settlement worth $5 billion over data privacy violations.
In response, Meta instead pointed a finger at TikTok. The anti-free speech tech giant Meta broke its silence on TikTok five weeks after MRC Free Speech America sought the company’s take on the communist Chinese government-tied app.
Meta conveniently dubbed the FTC’s push to impose new sanctions — including barring both Facebook and Instagram from profiting off data of users under the age of 18 — “a political stunt.” It then slammed the consumers' protection agency for attempting to thwart Congressional authority and giving the communist Chinese government-tied TikTok app cover.
“This is a political stunt,” Meta claimed in a Wednesday statement. “Despite three years of continual engagement with the FTC around our agreement, they provided no opportunity to discuss this new, totally unprecedented theory. Let’s be clear about what the FTC is trying to do: usurp the authority of Congress to set industry-wide standards and instead single out one American company while allowing Chinese companies, like TikTok, to operate without constraint on American soil.”
MRC Free Speech America & MRC Business Director Michael Morris acknowledged Meta’s attempt to draw attention to the dangers of TikTok but also blasted Facebook for its anti-free speech record.
“Glad to see Meta is now on board with calling out TikTok for the dangers it poses to American citizens. The federal government would do well to take note,” said Morris. “But as for the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, its latest revelation on TikTok doesn’t absolve it from its radical anti-free speech past.”
MRC Free Speech America has documented on its exclusive censorship database CensorTrack.org 1,238 cases of censorship by Facebook, making it the second most anti-free speech social media platform on the database, trailing only Twitter. MRC Free Speech America researchers have documented 76 cases where TikTok censored speech online.
The company’s surprising reference to TikTok echoes similar remarks made by another Meta executive. Meta’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg questioned TikTok’s values in an interview with Bloomberg TV on April 25. Clegg also criticized China for blocking companies like Meta from operating in their authoritarian nation.
Both Meta’s and Clegg’s anti-TikTok remarks come a month after MRC Free Speech America reached out to eight Big Tech giants, including Meta, and one tech group to ask whether the anti-American TikTok app should be banned from the U.S. At the time, Meta responded with radio silence.
TikTok has been under heavy congressional scrutiny over its financial ties to the Chinese Communist Party and faces a potential ban in the U.S. After two years of negotiations, the Biden administration threatened to ban TikTok in March. Outrageously, the Biden White House shortly thereafter tapped three TikTok influencers to promote his leftist 2024 talking points. A few weeks later, the president announced his re-election campaign a la Biden in the Basement 2.0.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Big Tech and demand that they be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and monitor Chinese propaganda while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
