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Of TikToks 150 million American users, there may be none more valuable to the embattled platform right now than Representative Jamaal Bowmanof New York.

A backbench Democrat, Mr. Bowman commands neither TikToks largest following (he has about 159,000 fans) nor exceptional legislative clout. But in recent days, he has gone where almost no one else on Capitol Hill would, appointing himself the platforms unofficial defender in face of a bipartisan race to target what President Biden sees as a national security threat.

Why the hell are we whipping ourselves into a hysteria to scapegoat TikTok? Mr. Bowman asked in a telephone interview as he traveled by train to Washington on Wednesday.

Hours later, he held a news conference outside the House touting the platforms virtues, alongside dozens of influencersbroughtin by TikTok for a day of lobbying ahead of Thursdays congressional hearing with its chief executive. Only two other Democrats attended, while some of the congressmans most outspoken allies declined to weigh in, like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow member of the group of left-leaning lawmakers known as the squad.

It is not hard to see why. Mr. Biden and prominent congressional leaders have locked arms around the idea thatthe platform, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, poses a serious national security threat at a time of growing competition with China. They are now looking to ban the video app from devices nationwide, or at least to force TikToks owners to sell to prevent Chinas leaders from gaining access to a trove of data onAmericans daily lives or being able to use the popular platformas a disinformation tool.

Mr. Bowman, who posts short videos under the handle repbowman, said the issue was being warped byWashington groupthink. He argued that the Biden administration had yet to produce meaningful evidence that the platform was being manipulated by Chinese authorities and said that he feared it was being singled out amid xenophobic anti-China rhetoric.

The apps opponents in Washington warn that Beijing could use Chinese laws to force TikTok to hand over user data of American consumers. They have also hammered the app over ByteDances admission that some of its employees gained access to the data of U.S. users, including reporters who cover the company, while investigating leaks of internal corporate information.

Mr. Bowman said he wants to see Congress take a more holistic approach to regulating social media giants rather than just targeting one company. We didnt talk about a ban on Facebook after Russia used it to influence the 2016 election, he said.

But his unexpected campaign has left many of his colleagues baffledor outright hostile, particularly as some of his arguments have echoed TikToks own talking points.

Anyone defending TikTok is either too caught up in being a social media celebrity or theyve been brainwashed by the Chinese governments propaganda, said Representative Josh Gottheimer, a moderate New Jersey Democrat in favor of banning the app or forcing its sale. Both put our national security at risk.

As scrutiny over TikToks practices has grown, the platform has built a multimillion-dollar lobbying operation led by former congressional aides. In recent weeks, its staffers have accompanied its chief executive, Shou Chew, around Capitol Hill as he told lawmakers about the benefits of a plan to store the apps data with an American company.

We appreciate the support of these members of Congress, and we will remain steadfast in our commitment to building a safe, secure and innovative platform, a TikTok spokesman, Jamal Brown, said.

Mr. Bowman, who shuns corporate political donations, insisted he had never taken a meeting with anyone who works for TikTok. But one of his aides said that the company did help facilitate a meeting that Mr. Bowman had with influencers it paid to travel to Washington to talk up the platforms benefits to lawmakers.

As for Wednesdays news conference, Mr. Bowman agreed to hold it after a representative of the company told his office that the influencers were looking to address reporters on Capitol Hill to cap off their visit. A TikTok spokesman was later on hand to help wrangle reporters.

Mr. Bowman does have some allies. It is fantastic that Bowman is speaking out for the 150 million Americans that use this app and whose rights hes trying to protect, saidJenna Leventoff of the American Civil Liberties Union.

A former middle school principal in the Bronx, Mr. Bowman, 46, first won his Westchester County-based seatin 2020 afterupsettinga three-decade incumbentfrom the left and has sought to push his party in that direction.

He said he has come to see the value of the platform, particularly to communicate with young constituents and activists. Telegenic and gregarious, he posts on weighty topics like Alaskan oil drilling and transgender rights but also trolls Republicans.

A recent selection shows the congressman ranking legendary hip-hop songs in his Washington office (he put Nuthin but a G Thang by Dr. Dre as No. 1), playfully shaving his head before a hearing (Gotta make sure the baldys looking fresh and clean) and packing up a box of books to send to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to help him on his anti-racist journey.

He saidhe decided to become more active on issues of data privacy and monopolies after reading two books about the inner workings of Facebook last fall. But his stance may be equally tied to foreign policy views that are much to the left of the Democratic or Republican mainstream.

Mr. Bowman and other progressives bucked party leadership in January to vote against the creation of a House select committee on strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and he generally opposes bipartisan defense policy bills.(He also voted against Mr. Bidens signature 2021 infrastructure bill.)

Im concerned mostly with our own affairs here in America, he said. The West in general has had a huge footprint in world affairs. The us-against-them ideology is killing everyone.

Wednesdays news conference took place at a podium adorned with a Keep TikTok sign. Mr. Bowman, accompanied by Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Robert Garcia of California, traded testimonials with the influencers.

C-SPAN was on hand to capture it all, as were some of the TikTokers at the news conference, who held up phones to record videos that were likely to be destined for a far wider audience.

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Tiktoks Lonely Progressive Defender: New Yorks Jamaal Bowman - The New York Times

Updated Mar 23, 2023, 10:09am EDT

A group of progressive Democrats led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) are among the first lawmakers in Congress to express their support for TikTok, despite growing bipartisan efforts to ban the popular social media app, amid concerns that an outright ban could lead to a backlash from the apps most prominent usersGen Z.

Bowman was the first major lawmaker in Congress to speak out in support of TikTok earlier this week, criticizing efforts to ban the app as fear mongering and suggesting it was fueled by xenophobia around China.

In a recent video posted to his nearly 160,000 followers on TikTok, Bowman argued that banning the platform wont solve any problem and said comprehensive legislation was instead needed to ensure social media user data is kept safe.

The New York Democrat, who is a member of the progressive coalition known as the Squad, has since been joined by two other progressive lawmakers, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).

Rep Pocan expressed his opposition to the ban on Twitter as he urged Congress to step up & pass real legislation, not just target one company.

Garcia, who calls himself a TikTok superconsumer called for a solution that addresses security and privacy concerns about the app while allowing it to continue in the U.S. as it is used by millions of Americans to support small businesses and social causes.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, where he is likely to be grilled about security concerns surrounding the app and its impact on younger users. According to his prepared remarks, Chew will highlight efforts his company has undertaken to purportedly firewall U.S. user data from its Chinese parent company, and various initiatives it has launched to protect minor users. However, Chews testimony is unlikely to move Biden administration officials who have reportedly rejected the companys proposals and are trying to force its parent ByteDance to sell TikToks U.S. operations.

A group of bipartisan senators led by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has sponsored legislation that would grant special powers to the president to ban apps like TikTok if they are deemed to pose a threat to national security. The White House itself has also expressed support for the so-called RESTRICT Act. Bowmans stance has also elicited surprise and criticism from some of his colleagues, according to the New York Times, with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) saying: Anyone defending TikTok is either too caught up in being a social media celebrity or theyve been brainwashed by the Chinese governments propaganda.

If it passes, the RESTRICT Act will task Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to identify and refer to the President any platform that poses an undue or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States. However, Raimondo herself has expressed some concerns about banning TikTok. Last week, she told Bloomberg that passing a law to ban a single company is not the way to deal with this issue. Raimondo also noted: The politician in me thinks youre gonna literally lose every voter under 35, forever. She is not the only person to express that concern, as many have warned that banning the popular social media platform could trigger a backlash from its Gen Z users, who are a key voting bloc for the Democrats.

54%. That is the percentage of active TikTok users who oppose a ban on the app, compared to 17% who are in favor of it, according to a poll conducted by the Washington Post. Among all American adults, the survey found that a plurality (41%) supports banning the app. The report adds that 59% of Americans between the ages of 18-to-34 used TikTok, and the apps user base is also more likely to be female, non-White and to have lower incomes. All of this could make banning the app a major political minefield for Democrats.

TikTok Scrutiny: CEO Will Tell Lawmakers App Is Safe For Minors And Ban Would Hurt U.S. Economy (Forbes)

Gina Raimondo Becomes China Player in a Job Where Her Predecessor Used to Nap (Bloomberg)

Fear the Wrath of the TikTok Voter (The New Republic)

TikTok creators, some U.S. Democratic lawmakers oppose ban on app (Reuters)

I am a Breaking News Reporter at Forbes, with a focus on covering important tech policy and business news. Graduated from Columbia University with an MA in Business and Economics Journalism in 2019. Worked as a journalist in New Delhi, India from 2014 to 2018. Have a news tip? DMs are open on Twitter @SiladityaRay or drop me an email at siladitya@protonmail.com.

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TikToks Potential Ban Faces Opposition From Some Democrats Amid Concerns It Could Cost Them Gen Zs Support - Forbes

Former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

For a while, it seemed like a college degree was the golden ticket to joining the upper-middle class. Increasingly, it just looks like another credential.

A bachelor's degree has become a common requirement for landing US jobs, even those that didn't previously require one. However, with not enough workers to meet demand, political leaders and employers are reconsidering the need for these degrees.

Former President Barack Obama said over and over that a college education was the surest path to the middle class, and Americans seemed to agree as enrollments took off.

Then in the last few years, like dominoes, state after state scrapped college-degree requirements to fill government vacancies, joining companies like IBM who now look for skills rather than degrees. Obama tweeted Monday that more states should follow suit. Democrats, Republicans, and corporations have turned towards the skilled and degreeless.

The tight labor market has hit government employment hard. Even though government workers increased by 46,000 in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, government employment remains below its pre-pandemic level by 376,000 workers, or 1.6%. Understaffing has undermined water access, transit safety, and hurricane relief, forcing state and local governments to lure employees with signing bonuses and rely on federal assistance in times of emergency.

Rather than continue to increase budgets to compete with the private sector on salaries and benefits, state governments are now trying to fill their historic vacancies by tapping into the workforce without bachelor's degrees, which accounted for 62% of the population age 25 and older in 2021, according to the Census Bureau.

Republican governors were the first to ditch college-degree requirements. Up against some 8,600 vacancies in the executive branch in January 2022, the state of Maryland allocated $800 million for salary increases and bonuses to attract and retain employees.

That March, former Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the state would open up half of the state's 38,000 jobs to workers who've obtained skills and experience through community college, military service, boot camps, and working on the job a broader range of qualifications that covers more than 70 million Americans nationwide. Hogan partnered with the workforce development nonprofit Opportunity@Work to specifically identify workers in the IT, administrative, and customer service sectors, according to The Bay Net.

"It's time to debunk the fiction that a prestigious degree is the only key to the American dream," Hogan wrote in an October 2022 Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Following Maryland's lead, Utah's Republican Gov. Spencer Cox launched his own initiative to drop bachelor's degree requirements for 98% of the state's 1,080 jobs in December 2022. Days later, Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jarid Polis ordered state agencies to integrate skills-first hiring practices and consider skills and experience interchangeable with degree requirements, partnering with the Markle Foundation to secure jobs for workers without degrees.

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Democrat governors agree that college has become a credential that limits career opportunities for most Americans. In January, Pennsylvania's Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order opening up 92%, or roughly 65,000, of state jobs to those without college degrees.

"In Pennsylvania, the people should decide what path is best for them, not have it decided by some arbitrary requirement or any arbitrary limitation," Shapiro said during a public signing ceremony, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

The New York Times editorial board praised Shapiro for making the movement bipartisan. They urged more states to follow to move the economy away from a preference for college degrees, restoring a sense of fairness many Americans feel is lost.

Since Shapiro's move, Alaska's Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered state agencies to substitute practical experience for a degree in hiring where possible, and Georgia is near passing a law that would minimize positions requiring a bachelor's degree.

To address its teacher shortage, Arizona passed a law in 2022 so that college students could train as public school teachers before receiving their degree, according to the Center Square. Oregon also issued a temporary order in 2022 allowing those without bachelor's degrees to work as substitute teachers.

Before there was a bipartisan consensus among politicians, the private sector was already looking beyond degrees. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook have famously complained that colleges do not teach students the skills they need to succeed on the job. Cook said in 2019 that half of Apple's US workforce didn't have four-year degrees.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google now uses its online college-alternative program to hire employees without degrees, IBM no longer requires four-year degrees for a majority of US roles, and Delta no longer requires four-year degrees of its pilots. A 2022 report from the thinktank Burning Glass Institute found that 46% of middle-skill and 31% of high-skill jobs have cut degree requirements of one kind or another between 2017-2019, the majority of which are expected to be permanent.

A college degree may increase your earning potential, but it may not hold the keys to the middle class for much longer.

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Democrats, Republicans, companies agree college degrees aren't the future - Business Insider

Laffer Tengler Investments CEO Nancy Tengler and maslansky+partners' Lee Carter attribute residents fleeing big cities to 'really bad policy.'

Bad news for some high-earning workers in some of Americas biggest cities your six-figure salary may not stretch as fiscally far as you think, according to a new report.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset has revealed what a $100,000 salary is actually worth in the largest U.S. cities. While a six-figure salary mark has culturally been seen as a sign of financial comfort and success, data showed that take-home pay totaled less than $40,000 in New York City, Honolulu and San Francisco, respectively.

Other Democrat-led cities clinched the top places where your paycheck doesn't go as far, including Washington, D.C., Long Beach and Los Angeles which tied for fifth at a take-home pay of $44,263 San Diego, Oakland, and Boston, all raking in less than $49,000 for high earners.

SmartAsset calculated the data by comparing the after-tax income, average cost of living per densely-populated city and impact of inflation.

STUDY SAYS RED STATES SMASH BLUE STATES AS THE BEST FOR BUSINESS START-UPS

Laffer Tengler Investments CEO and CIO Nancy Tengler recently moved from California to Arizona, and argued residents who make $100,000 or above flee these blue cities for one reason: its "all about the taxes."

Workers making $100,000 annually receive the least amount of take-home pay in cities like New York, Honolulu and San Francisco because it's "all about the taxes," Laffer Tengler Investments CEO and CIO Nancy Tengler said on "Mornings with Maria." (Getty Images)

"It trickles through to everything," Tengler said on "Mornings with Maria" Friday. "We're seeing a big influx of people moving from California to Arizona. And then I spend the other half of the year in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, which is in Nevada, and we're seeing the same Californians fleeing the Golden State."

"It's really noteworthy," she continued, "and I think policymakers should stand up and take notice because you're experiencing the same thing here, obviously, in New York."

In 2022, California and New York suffered some of the biggest resident losses, with California seeing its population tumble by more than 343,000 people, and New York had the overall largest decline in its population with a 0.9% drop. These states are also known to have some of the highest tax burdens in the country.

U.S. residents are leaving Democrat-led states like New York and California at steep levels, population data shows.

In New York City, workers making $100,000 annually only take home $35,791 after taxes and cost of living.

Residents in Honolulu, Hawaii, earning $100,000 bring home $36,026.

In San Francisco, California, earning $100,000 produces a take-home amount of $36,445.

"I see it every day," maslansky+partners' Lee Carter added to the conversation Friday. "More than half your money in New York City is going to taxes by the time you pay for city taxes and all the rest of it, so it's really staggering. It's really bad policy."

On the reverse side of SmartAssests report, it was determined that a $100,000 salary in Memphis, Tennessee, earns the most take-home pay with $86,444. Texas cities also dominated the top 10 cities your money goes farthest, including El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Houston and San Antonio.

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Top 10 cities where $100K salary is worth the least:

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. argues Americans are moving out of Democratic-led cities for better policies.

Top 10 cities where $100K goes the farthest:

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FOX Business Megan Henney contributed to this report.

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People making $100K in these Democrat-run cities are taking a big pocket punch: Report - Fox Business

RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina House Republicans approved new rules on Wednesday limiting how racism and sexism can be taught but fell short of gaining any Democratic support to guarantee a veto override.

The 68-49 vote went along party lines with all Republicans in support and all Democrats in opposition. Republicans would need at least one Democrat should Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper veto the bill again as he did in 2021.

GOP lawmakers say the bill is designed to prevent schools from promoting critical race theory. House Bill 187 has provisions such as one saying teachers shall not promote that anyone should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress based on their race or sex.

This bill does not change what history standards can and cannot be taught, said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and the bills primary sponsor. It simply prohibits schools from endorsing discriminatory concepts.

But Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill is so vaguely worded that teachers will censor what they say to stay out of potential trouble.

The bill on its face is the obvious attempt to micromanage from the General Assembly into the classrooms, said Rep. Laura Budd, a Mecklenburg County Democrat. Its overreach. It will have a chilling effect on teachers and educators in curtailing what they think theyre allowed to teach, as well as how they teach.

The legislation now goes to the GOP-controlled Senate, where its expected to easily pass.

A bill with nearly identical language passed the House and Senate in 2021. When Cooper vetoed that bill, he said it pushes calculated, conspiracy-laden politics into public education.

___

House Bill 187, titled Equality in Education says public schools cant promote concepts such as the idea that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex or that an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.

The bill also would stop teachers from promoting the concept of white privilege, or that white people have unfair advantages over others solely due to their race. The bill says teachers cant promote that privileges should be ascribed to a race or sex.

Other items that the bill says teachers cant promote include:

An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;

A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist;

The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.

At the end of the day we should all be able to agree that no student, no teacher, no parent, no school employee, no one should ever be made to feel inferior solely because of the color of their skin, their gender, national origin, race, religion, disability and familial status, especially in our schools when learning for our young should be fun and exciting, said Torbett, the lone Republican to speak for the bill Wednesday.

The legislation, which does not include the phrase critical race theory, would also require schools to post online ahead of time whenever schools provide instruction related to the prohibited concepts. Theyd also have to list when they hire speakers, consultants or diversity trainers who discuss those concepts or have previously advocated those concepts.

Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, questioned whether the bill would prevent her from speaking in schools or serving as a substitute teacher due to her political beliefs.

___

Republican lawmakers have introduced bills at the national and state level targeting what they call critical race theory, which holds that racism has been a systemic part of the nations history that still influences society today.

Conservative groups have accused schools of promoting critical race theory. School leaders have denied the charge, saying that anything involving the discussion of diversity, equity and race has been conflated to be about critical race theory.

Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. Eighteen states have imposed these bans and restrictions either through legislation or other avenues.

You have to be made uncomfortable in order to expand your mind and to learn, said Rep. Kelly Alexander, a Mecklenburg County Democrat. Thats what education is all about.

The push to target critical race theory comes as North Carolina Republicans are also promoting legislation known as the Parents Bill of Rights targeting instruction in elementary grades on explicit material and LGBTQ issues. The state Senate approved that bill this year, but it has not been taken up by the House.

___

Torbett said the legislation will help promote unity in this country and state.

North Carolina, this great education state, must have an educational system that unites and teaches our children, not divides and indoctrinates them, Torbett said.

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Democrats said the bill doesnt provide guidance on what would be acceptable.

At a time when teachers are already feeling pressure from staff shortages, book bans, inadequate resources, this bill continues to undermine the autonomy of the teaching profession and fails to support teachers, von Haefen said during the floor debate.

Von Haefen said the bill raises questions from teachers about whether they could continue to have discussions about equal rights, the right to vote and why women are under-represented in politics and other fields.

Democrats also said the bill will cause teachers to shy away from discussing controversial topics.

This bill frightens me because I think people will start trying to limit exposure to history by all of us, added Rep. Abe Jones, a Wake County Democrat. We all can learn from history.

2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit at charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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N.C. House passes bill prohibiting 'critical race theory'; Democrats ... - The Virginian-Pilot