Q: What comes to mind in observation of National Social Media Day?
A: As an early adopter of social media, I appreciate the opportunity to use technology to directly communicate with constituents. Representative government is a two-way street, and social media platforms open lanes of communication between elected officeholders and the people we serve. I encourage Iowans to follow me on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Medium. In particular, I am pleased to leverage social media platforms to educate people that food comes from farms, not the grocery store. Using #cornwatch and #soybeanwatch, I invite people to follow along, from planting to harvest seasons to better understand the risk management, conservation practices and work that farmers put in to produce the nation’s food, fuel, and fiber.
At the same time, social media can’t replace other forms of communication, including phone calls, postal mail or face to face conversations. In January, I started my 44th consecutive year holding my annual 99 county meetings across the state. Hearing what’s on the minds of Iowans, eyeball to eyeball, and having boots on the ground to see recovery efforts from natural disasters, as an example, can’t be displaced by social media. However, I’m able to use social media using #99countymeetings to share what’s on the minds of Iowans.
Q: What legislative guardrails are you supporting to improve the social media landscape?
A: When I visit with young people at high schools, I often get asked about Congress passing a “ban” on TikTok. This social media platform uses short-form video content and is widely popular among younger generations. However, many young people might not be aware the Chinese Communist Party ultimately has control over this platform. That means one of America’s biggest adversaries effectively can manipulate the content seen by users and harvest the personal data from every user, from keystrokes to personal contact information and more. More than 170 million Americans use TikTok, giving the Chinese Communist Party a window into the minds and daily lives of users in communities across the country. Because of its national security implications, federal law already bans TikTok from devices owned by the federal government. In April, Congress passed legislation that would force the China-based parent company that owns TikTok to sell the social media platform to an entity not controlled by a foreign adversary or face a substantial financial penalty in the United States. When asked why I supported the legislation, I explain what’s at stake: the U.S. can’t afford to let foreign adversaries have free rein to conduct espionage, surveillance and maligned influence on an app that’s at the fingertips of tens of millions of Americans. An additional measure included in the law signed in April would make it illegal for data brokers to sell or rent sensitive data to other foreign adversaries, including North Korea, China, Russia and Iran. I don’t want to take TikTok away, I want to take away the ability of America’s foreign adversaries to manipulate user data for malicious intent. Building on from this effort, I introduced bipartisan legislation in June that would require websites and apps to disclose their ties with China, North Korea, Russia or Iran so that Americans can make informed decisions on when, and with whom, they share private information. The Internet Application Integrity and Disclosure Act would require disclosure if data collected is accessible to any of these countries, as well.
As a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it’s telling what Big Tech will do to protect its turf, even at the expense of child abuse on its platforms. I’ve spoken with parents who are desperate to protect their children from online drug and sex traffickers who have destroyed the lives of too many families. In 2022, I held a field hearing in Des Moines to raise awareness about deadly online sales of illicit fentanyl. I’m working to empower parents and hold Big Tech accountable. Among other measures, I’m co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation that would improve tools for families to protect their children online, crack down on Big Tech for promoting harmful content to kids and increase transparency around so-called black box algorithms. I’m all for innovation, technology and entrepreneurism. At the same time, social media platforms are being exploited to target vulnerable young audiences. With more than 60 Senate co-sponsors backing the Kids Online Safety Act, parents, youth advocates and concerned citizens have delivered a strong message to Congress. Pull the plug on online predators and drug dealers who are pushing poison to kids. Damaging online content is leading to harmful behaviors and fragmenting mental health, such as promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and unlawful products for minors, including gambling and alcohol.
Without a doubt, social media has tremendous sway over daily life, impacting how we communicate, do business and consume information. National Social Media Day presents a good opportunity to take stock of the positive and negative, to make informed decisions about how we use the platforms and account for how much time we spend on them.
National Social Media Day is June 30.