Rep. Mike Gallagher Speaking During Hearing - Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
GREEN BAY, WI (WSAU) – Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) stated that the Chinese-owned social networking site TikTok is encouraging young Americans to support Palestine and Hamas terrorists against Israel.
The Daily Wire reports that in a video released on Saturday, Gallagher, the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, stated that TikTok “may be the largest-scale malicious influence operation ever carried out.”
According to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll conducted last month, which Gallagher quoted, 51% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 think that the terror attack on Israel on October 7 by Hamas “can be justified by the grievance of Palestinians.”
The glaring age gap was also illustrated by a Quinnipiac poll released last week which asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Israel is responding to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th?” Overall, half were approved and 35% were disapproved. However, compared to roughly 58% of respondents aged 50 and above, only 32% of respondents aged 18 to 34 approved of Israel’s approach.
“How do we reach a point where a majority of young Americans hold such a morally bankrupt view of the world? Where many young Americans were rooting for terrorists who kidnapped American citizens and against a key American ally, our closest ally in the Middle East?” Gallagher asked.
WATCH: @repgallagher: How are so many young people in America siding with Hamas terrorists?
Who have killed at least 30 Americans and kidnapped a dozen more, still at this moment holding 10 hostages.
Where are they getting their news?
The answer, increasingly, is TikTok – an… pic.twitter.com/RDaTamjrHC
— The Select Committee on the CCP (@committeeonccp) November 4, 2023
“TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, is Chinese, and in China, there is no such thing as a private company. We know for a fact that the CCP uses TikTok to push its propaganda and censor views that diverge from the party line,” Gallagher continued.
Bytedance, a Chinese tech giant, is the parent company of TikTok. TikTok has been accused of being a Chinese propaganda tool by both Republicans and Democrats. The software has been prohibited by state governments, including Wisconsin, and around the nation due to security concerns.
Congressman Mike Gallagher comments follow FBI Director Christopher Wray October testimony that stated that antisemitism in the US is at “historic levels.”
During a Senate hearing Wray stated, “This is a threat that is reaching, in some way, sort of historic levels.” The FBI director stated that this was partly due to the fact that “terrorists really across the spectrum”—that is, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist groups —target the Jewish community.
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