The u. S. Media is covering israels assault on gaza. We will be joined by the acclaimed broadcaster mehdi hassan who left msnbc earlier this year after his shows were canceled. Then to tiktok. The u. S. House has passed a bill that could lead to the banning a bill that could lead to the banning of the social media app tiktok. It was potentially ban tiktok is a huge mistake because it does not do with the real issue which is social Media Companies of all types are actually targeting as for our data, exploiting our attention, threatening our democracy. Instead of that, this act is just targeting foreign actors and playing a nationalism and xenophobia. Amy we will speak to ucla professor Ramesh Srinivasan. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In gaza, at least five people were killed on wednesday when israel bombed an unrwa Aid Distribution Center in rafah, one of the u. N. Agencys last remaining aid sites in gaza. At least one u. N. Worker was among the dead. Unrwa workers decried the attack. This is forbidden. We are an international institution. All of this is for people. We work day and night to serve refugees. What is this . We take all of this to the elderly and children. Amy the head of Unrwa Philippe Lazzarini said the attack was a blatant disregard to International Humanitarian law. The attack comes as much of gaza is on the brink of famine as israel continues to limit the amount of aid allowed into the besieged territory. At least 27 palestinians have died of starvation, including 23 children. Meanwhile, al jazeera is reporting Six Palestinians have were killed in gaza city after Israeli Forces opened fire again on crowds waiting for food aid. Over 80 people were injured. In other news from gaza, politico is reporting the Biden Administration has privately told israel that the u. S. Would support israel attacking rafah as long as it doesnt carry out a largescale invasion. Israel has announced it wants to transfer most of the over 1. 4 Million People seeking refuge in rafah to what it called humanitarian islands in other parts of gaza. On wednesday, one family in rafah broke their ramadan fast in the rubble of their destroyed home. Last ramadan was great but this year it is not. A lot of things are not there anymore. My sisters, my family, our house got destroyed. There are still people under the rubble. This house was a children stream. There are toys and everything lost. Amy a new investigation has accused israel of breaking International Law over the killing of reuters video journalist in lebanon. October 13, an israeli tank open fire on him and a group of other journalists. The u. N. Report stated the firing as civilians in this instance clearly identifiable journalists constitutes a violation of International Law. Back in the u. S. , hundreds of activists partially shut down the International Terminal of San FranciscoInternational Airport wednesday to demand a permanent ceasefire in gaza and that the u. S. Stop arming israel. Protesters blocked outside traffic and security checkin, forcing sfo to close certain checkpoints and roadways. One traveler stopped to thank the protesters for the disruption. I am slightly inconvenienced. So my trip test not go as planned. But i still have a life. I can still live. I am not dying. I am not starting. These people are starving. Amy here in new york, activists successfully canceled a planned real estate event in brooklyn this week that sought to sell homes built on illegal settlements in the occupied west bank. This came just days after hundreds of activists in new jersey marched through the streets of teaneck on sunday to protest a similar real estate fair as it was taking place in a synagogue. Protests continue on capitol hill as well. On tuesday, members of jewish voice for peace occupied the office of Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries calling on the Democratic House leader to reject funding from aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs committee. Jeffries is one aipacs largest recipients. The action came as over 20 groups launched the reject aipac coalition, established to counter the powerful lobby groups influence in d. C. , and calling on elected officials to reject endorsements and contributions from aipac. The house overwhelmingly voted wednesday in favor of a bill that would force tiktoks chinese owner bytedance to either sell the social media app or face a ban in the u. S. Backers claim tiktok poses a National Security threat. Rights groups like the aclu say such a ban would violate the right to free speech. There are well over 150 million tiktok users in the u. S. Alone. After voting, two of the lawmakers who voted against the measure, democrats ro khanna and pramila jayapal, laid out some of the bills issues. It is an overly broad bill that i dont think would stand First Amendment scrutiny. The other issue is there are a lot of people who make their livelihoods on this. There are timeline questions. 180 days to sell a company the size is very difficult. What happens to antitrust law . Does it still apply . I think the questions of it this is a defective ban, i think that is a real problem. I also have problems four countries are named but is it ok if saudi arabia buys it . Amy the measure will now be taken up by the senate. Meanwhile, palestinian rights activists say israels war on gaza has galvanized antitiktok sentiment in conservative and centrist lawmakers. In a leaked postoctober 7 audio recording, Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the antipalestinian antidefamation league, can be heard saying we have a tiktok problem, referencing declining public support for israel among younger people. The Progressive Group rootsaction also noted that aipac is the top donor to Congressmember Mike Gallagher, who authored the tiktok ban bill. This comes as donald trump split his position on the bill within the last week, now opposing the van after recently meeting with republican billionaire mega donor jeff yass. His Company Holds a 15 stake in bytedance. A plan to establish a new president ial council in haiti appears to be crumbling after a number of prominent haitian politicians and parties have refused to participate. Earlier this week, caribbean leaders and the United States put forward a plan to establish a sevenperson panel to rule haiti and appoint a new Prime Minister to replace ariel henry who agreed to resign after facing an armed uprising. In related news, the Biden Administration is reportedly considering housing haitians in refugees at Guantanamo Bay if there is an influx of migrants. Meanwhile, Florida Governor ron desantis has deployed soldiers from the National Guard to block haitians from reaching florida. The United Nations and aid groups are warning nearly 230,000 children and new mothers could die from starvation in the coming months if their nutritional and health needs remain unmet. The humanitarian crisis in sudan comes as rival military factions continue to fight despite calls for a ramadan ceasefire. Earlier this week, the sudanese military regained control of the sudans National Radio and television headquarters, which had been seized by the Paramilitary Rapid support forces. In bolivia, nonstop rain in the capital la paz prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency earlier this week as overflowing rivers destroyed homes and killed at least one person. Nearly 50 people have been killed due to flooding since the rainy season in bolivia started in january. This is an official from la paz. In nearly 80 years, we have not seen such an event. We have had another in usual event. There was not any minute during the nine days the city was not raining. Amy in other climate news, the International Energy agency warns methane emissions remain at near record highs. The agency said, a 75 cut in methane emissions from fossil fuels by 2030 is imperative to stop the planet from warming to a dangerous level. The oil industry is the largest producer of methane, and the u. S. Is the largest emitter of methane from oil and gas. Here in new york, activists with climate defiance confronted chevron ceo mike wirth on tuesday as he spoke at an event promoting the role of engaged men in gender inclusivity. Killing thousands of Indigenous Women and losing thousands more to cancer you are a murderer. Amy chevron ceo mike wirth was forced to leave the event. Federal investigators looking into the Alaska Airlines boeing 737 max door blowout say their work is being hampered by boeings lack of cooperation and major issues with its recordkeeping. The National Transportation safety board said boeing was not able to provide the name of the employee who worked on the failed door plug and that boeing overwrote Surveillance Footage of the plugs reinstallment. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports boeing failed 33 out of 89 audits conducted by the federal Aviation Administration on the 737 max. The 5th Circuit Court of appeals has upheld a texas law that prevents young people from confidentially accessing Birth Control from clinics. The court ruled clinics can be required to notify and get consent from parents. Planned parenthood criticized the ruling saying it marks a significant and dangerous departure from decades of precedent that has allowed all young people to confidentially get basic Health Care LikeBirth Control through title x. In other reproductive rights news, Vice President harris is visiting an Abortion Clinic in minnesota today in a show of support for abortion rights. Its the first such public appearance by any president or Vice President. In georgia, a judge tossed out six of the charges in the wideranging election subversion case against donald trump and some of his 18 codefendants. Fulton county superior court judge scott mcafee said the charges, which relate to trump pressuring officials into violating election laws, lack detail but that prosecutors could seek a reindictment on those counts. This comes as judge mcafee is expected to announce his decision soon on whether to disqualify Fulton County d. A. Fani willis from the case over an alleged improper relationship with a special prosecutor. In oklahoma, a medical examiner ruled that the nonbinary teen nex benedict died of suicide. 16yearold nex benedicts death last month came one day after they were attacked in a girls bathroom by fellow students at owasso high school. Benedicts autopsy showed a lethal mix of antihistamines and antidepressants in their system. Nex benedict identified within the two spirit, transgender, and gendernonconforming umbrella. And longtime lgbtq activist and political advisor david mixner has died at 77. A friend said the cause of death was complications of longterm covid. David mixner was famously Close Friends with bill clinton, whos president ial campaign he worked on. But the relationship fractured after clinton walked back his promise to end discrimination against lgbtq people in the military, which mixner harshly condemned. He was arrested at a 1993 protest against clintons dont ask, dont tell policy outside the white house. This is david mixner on democracy now in 1996. We have got to get our act together. The Christian Coalition has been organizing and taking over school boards, taxation boards at the local level. For years i think on the Progressive Movement on the left, we have accepted the criteria that they are better than the other guy and so we have always been put in that position, excepting someone just a little better than someone worse. I think we should not accept that anymore. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. When we come back, we will be joined by the acclaimed broadcaster mehdi hassan. We will talk about why he left msnbc, what is happening in gaza right now, and more. Back in 20 seconds. [music break] amy tell me why by the chileanpalestinian singer and songwriter elyanna. Last year at coachella, she made history as the first artist to perform a full set in arabic at the festival. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. Nermeen the death toll and gaza has topped 31,300. At least five people were killed on wednesday when israel bombed an unrwa Distribution Center in rafah. The head called the attack a blatant disregard to International Humanitarian law. This comes as much of gaza is on the brink of famine as israel continues to limit the amount of aid allowed into the besieged territory. At least 27 palestinians have died of starvation, including 23 children. Meanwhile, al jazeera is reporting Six Palestinians were killed and gaza city is really forces opened fire again on crowds waiting for food aid. Over 80 people were injured. In other news from gaza, politico reports the Biden Administration has privately told israel the u. S. Would support israel attacking rafah as long as it did not carry out a largescale invasion. And we begin todays show looking at how the u. S. Media is covering his results all with the acclaimed tv broadcaster mehdi hassan. In january, he announced he was leaving msnbc after his show was canceled. Hassan was one of the most prominent muslim voices on American Television. In october, the news outlet semafor reported msnbc had reduced the roles of hassan and two other muslim broadcasters on the network, Ayman Mohyeldin and ali velshi, following the october 7 hamas attack on israel. Then in november, msnbc announced it was canceling hassans show shortly after he conducted this interview with mark regev, an advisor to israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu. You say hamas the less complex, 2009 and 2014, the Israeli Military death toll matched hamass death toll. U. N. Human Rights Groups agree those numbers are credible. Would you let me finish . I will try to be as brief. Those numbers are provided by hamas. Theres no independent verification. More important, have no idea how many are terrorists and how many are civilians. Hamas would have you believe they are all civilians come all children. Hamas, until now, we are eroding their control but up until now, they have been in control of the gaza strip and as a result they control all of the images coming out of gaza. Every scene one picture of a single dead hamas hamas can control the information you asked me a question. I havent but i have seen children with my own eyes being pulled from the rubble. Images hamas whats wants. You have killed children . You dont know how those people died, those children. Amy oh, well, he responded. Oh, wow mehdi hassan responded. Mehdi, welcome back to democracy now i want to start with that interview you did. After you lost your two shows, soon after. Do you think that is the reason those shows were canceled, interviews like that . You would have to ask msnbc. Thank you for having me on. The advantage of not being at msnbc anymore, i get to be on shows like this and talk to you all. You should ask msnbc why they canceled the shows. There we go, the shows were canceled the end of november. I quit at the beginning of january because i wanted to have a platform of my own. I could spend 2024, genocide in gaza, festers him on the door here in america i could not spend that being a guest anchor and applicable analyst, which is what i was offered at msnbc. I wanted to leave. I wanted to get my voice. That is what i launched my own Media Company called zeteo. We will launch properly next month. Nermeen could you explain what does zeteo mean and what is the gap in the u. S. Media landscape you hope to fill . You have been extremely critical of the u. S. Medias coverage of gaza, saying quite correctly, that the coverage has not been as consistent were clear as the last time we saw innovation but this kind, though far less brutal, which was the invasion of ukraine. Fine zeteo, it is an anchor ancient word. I thought it was an important endeavor to embark upon as a journalist to go back to our roots. In terms of why launch it in the media space, look, there is a gap in the market. Not many progressives have pulled off a full, subscriptionbased you business. Weve seen it on the right with Benjamin Shapiro and barry weiss and even Tucker Carlson has launched his own subscriptionbased platform since leaving fox. The progressive space, we have not really done a. There are wonderful shows like democracy now doing important journalism on subjects like gaza, the climate will stop but across the Media Industry as a whole, sadly in the u. S. , the massive gap is there were not enough i dont know how to put it truth tellers. I dont just mean truth in a conventional sense of saying what is true and false, im saying the language of which we talk about what is happening in the world today. Too many of my colleagues hide behind lazy euphemisms. The idea you cant say donald trump is racist because you dont know what is in his heart. You cant say republican parties going full fascist. We cant say theres a genocide in gaza. We run away from very blunt terms which help us understand world. I want to treat American Consumers with some respect. Stop patronizing them. Tell them what is happening in the world. In a blunt way. Nermeen in your criticism of the u. S. Medias coverage in particular of israels assault on gaza, verse you have condemned what happened, the hamas attack on tober seven. Youve also situated the attack in a broader, historical frame. You have received criticism. In response you said, context is not causation and context is not justification. Could you explain why you think context history is so important and the way in which this question is kind of delighted in u. S. Media coverage, not just of the gaza crisis but especially so now . I did an interview with piers morgan. He always asks is guest for anyone criticizing israel, condemned october 7. It was barbarism, tragedy, war crimes were carried out, hostages were taken and we should condemn it. But the world did not begin on october 7. The idea the entire conflict can be reduced to october 7 is madness. It is not just me saying it. Even some leading israeli generals talking about having to understand the root causes of people under occupation writing for freedom. It is absurd to me people should run away from context. My former colleagues ali velshi and Ayman Mohyeldin were on air as news was coming in for the attacks and they provided context. They understand that part of the world. Ayman mohyeldin is the only u. S. Anchor that has lived in gaza. They came under attack from certain proisrael people for providing context. This idea we should be ashamed or apologetic of journalists for providing context and one of the Biggest Stores in the world is madness. You cant understand what is happening in the world unless journalists and broadcasters are explaining to viewers and listeners and readers why things are happening. Where forces are coming from. Why people behave the way they do. I know america is a country of amnesia ask, but we cant keep acting as if the world just began yesterday. Amy you also used to report for the intercept. Talking about double standards on israel coverage. It is an interesting piece. There confronting the executives and one issue that came up says the intercept repeatedly, sea his longtime process for running almost all coverage related to israel and palestine through the networks jerusalem bureau. As reported in january, the protocol which has existed for years but was expanded as second eyes last summer, slows down reporting on gaza and filters news about the war to journalists and jerusalem who operate under the shadow of israels military sensor. And then christian on the poor saying youve heard from me, youve heard my, you know, real distress with secondeyes changing copy, double standards, and all the rest. The significance of this and what we see . Not talking fox right now. On msnbc and on cnn, you rarely see palestinians interviewed and and extended discussions. Number one, we should recognize that amanpour is done some significant, powerful interviews. Amy and particularly unseen and international which is often not seen on cnn domestic. Very good point. To shape most of the second point, u. S. Media organizations as a whole are engaging in journalistic malpractice by not informing viewers, listeners, readers that a lot of the coverage is coming under the shadow of an how Many Americans understand or even know about the Israeli Military sensor, how much information is controlled. We barely understand western journalism kept out of gaza were embedded with Israeli Military forces and limited to what they can say and do. In a country that prides itself on free press, we should understand the way in which information comes out of the occupied territory in particular from gaza. The third point i would say is palestinian voices not being on American Television or print is one of the biggest problems when it comes to our coverage of this conflict. We talk about why the media is structurally biased, the occupier, we have to remember this is one of the reasons. We dont let people speak. That is what leads to dehumanization. We understand this at home when it comes to black voices. Media voices have tried to take steps to improve diversity when it comes to onair talent and guess and balancing powers. We get we need underrepresented communities to speak. But when it comes to foreign conflicts, we dont seem to make that calculation. A study was done of all beds in the New York Times and the Washington Post from 1972 to 2000 something and it was like 2 and 1 written by palestinians, which is a shocking statistic. We deny these people a voice and wonder why people dont sympathize with their plight. Why america is ok, blind to the fact we are complicit of genocide of these people . Because we dont hear from these people. Nermeen explain why that is especially prudent in this instance because journalists have not been permitted access to gaza so there is no reporting going on on the ground that is being shown here. I mean, dozens of journalists have signed a letter asking israel and egypt to allow journalists access into gaza. If you could talk about that, why it is especially important to hear from palestinian voices here . For a start, much of the imagery we see on our screens, newspapers, our sanitized images. We dont see the full level of the destruction. When we try to understand why it is such a generational gap when it comes to the polling on gaza, ceasefire, while young people are so much more than their elder peers is partly because on tictac or instagram and are sing much less sanitized version of this war. They are seeing babies being pulled from rubble. They are sing hospitals carrying out procedures without anesthetic. They are saying absolute brutality. That is their problem. If were sanitizing the coverage, americans are not being told, are not being informed, are missing context on what is happening on the ground. Israel, by keeping western journalists out, exit even easier for those images to be blocked and therefore you palestinian journalists on the ground trying to film and document their own genocide, streaming to our phones, and weve seen over 100 of them killed over the last five months. That is not a coincidence. Israel wants to stamp out any kind of coverage of its own genocidal behavior. Therefore, again, are able to have a debate in this country where the completed the debate is completely misinformed. When you look at the polling there is a majority in favor of ceasefire that half of all democrats say this is a genocide americans are saying despite not even getting the full picture. Can you imagine what the numbers would be like if they saw what was happening on the ground . Nermeen i want to go to what is unfolding right now in gaza. You said in a recent interview that in the past, israel was mowing the lawn but now that the netanyahu governments intention is to erase the population of gaza. Thats go to what Prime Minister netanyahu said about the invasion of rafah saying it would go ahead and last weeks, not months. Were not going to leave them. I have a redline. You know what the redline is . That october 7 does not happen again. To do that, we have to complete the destruction of the hamas terrorist army. We have destroyed three quarters of hamas terrorist battalions close to finishing the last part in rafah. Once we begin the intense action of eradicating the hamas terrorist battalions in rafah, it is about weeks, not months. Nermeen your response to what he said and what the israelis have proposed as a safe place for gazans to go, namely humanitarian islands . Number one when you hear netanyahu speak, doesnt it remind you of george bush 2002, 2003 . Invoking 9 11 to justify every atrocity, claiming youre trying to protect the country when you yourself, your incompetency is what led to the attacks . George bush was unable to prevent 9 11 and then used it to justify a real atrocity even though his incompetence allowed 9 11 to happen. Netanyahu allowed the worst massacre in israel to happen under his watch. Many of his own generals and people blame him for this. It is rich to hear him say my aim is to stop this from happening again. Now youre killing under the pretense this is National Security. George bush,like climbing no sirs observer believes hamas is finished. Anyone who says they can completely destroy hamas as telltales. A member in government said that. The redline on rafah that biden sat down and netanyahu is mocking, what on earth is joe biden doing in allowing benjamin yahoo to humiliate him in this way with his invasion of rafah even after he says he opposes it . Amy lets go to biden speaking on msnbc being interviewed by Jonathan Capehart as he was being questioned about Benjamin Netanyahu and saying he is hurting israel more than helping israel. Pres. Biden he has a right to continue to pursue hamas but he must come he must come he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a result of his actions. He is hurting, in my view, hurting israel more than helping israel by making the rest of the world contrary to what israel stands for. I think it is a big mistake. I want to see a ceasefire. Amy he talked about kind of a redline. If you can address what biden is saying and what he proposed in the state of the union, this pier, to get more aid in and the dropping the airdropping of food, which recently killed five palestinians because it crushed them to death, any humanitarian groups come United Nations saying these airdrops come nowhere near being able to provide the aid that is needed post of the same time and the reason theyre doing all of this is because israel is using u. S. Bombs and artillery to attack the palestinians and these aid trucks. Yeah, it is so bizarre. The idea you could drop bombs on the one hand and then drop need on the other and you are paying for both and then your aid ends up killing people, too. It is like some dark onion headline. It is beyond belief. As for the pier, it does not come anywhere near to coming to adequately addressing the needs of the people or half a Million People on the brink of famine. Over a Million People displaced. The idea at this pier will address the skill of suffering and it is going to take time to do this. What happens to the palestinians who are literally starving to death while the pier is being built . Theres a recording that suggests the idea came from netanyahu. It allows them to still control land and air access to gaza. The idea the United States of america, the worlds only superpower, were going to put aid into gaza because we want to and youre not going to stop us, is bizarre. It is something biden will never be able to live down. It is a stain on his record, on americas conscience. The idea we are arming a country that is engaged in a plausible genocide is bad enough, that we cant even get our own aid in while there bombing without bombs is madness. It is also illegal. Under u. S. Law, cannot provide weaponry to a country which is blocking u. S. Aid. It is not me saying there blocking u. S. Aid, u. S. Government officials have said, yes, the Israeli Government blocked us from sending flour in for example. Nermeen lets go to the Regional Response to this on gaza that is been this assault on gaza. What how has the arab and muslim world responded to what is going on . Egypt has repeatedly said it does not want displaced palestinians crossing its border. The most powerful muslim countries, saudi arabia, qatar, and emirates, if you can talk about how they have responded . In the axis, socalled axis of resistance, houthis, hezbollah, etc. , how they have been trying to disrupt this war or at least make the backers of israel pay a price for it . I hear people saying, oh, were disappointed in the response of the air countries. The problem with disappointment implies you had any expectations to begin with. I certainly didnt. The herbst street has als the arab street have never really had interest of the Palestinian People going back to 1948 when air countries attacked israel to push it into the sea but as we know from history, or not doing that at all. Arab countries have never really prioritize the policy and people or their needs or freedom. When you see some of the state was that come out of the arab world, you have to take them with a shovel of salt, not just a grain. I would point out the hypocrisy on all sides in the region. Give countries like saudi arabia and uae involved in a brutal assault on yemen for many years, carried up similar asked to israel in gaza in terms of blockades, starvation, malnourishment of the children, bombing refugee camps and hospitals and kids and school buses. Arab countries did that in yemen. They criticize israel now. And iran, when Bashar Alassad was killing many of his own people, including Palestinian Refugees in places like refugee camps ,iran and russia were happy to support an arm assad as he did that. Spare me the grandiose statements from air nations. There is a lot of hypocrisy to go around. Very few have palestinians rights at heart. S saudi want to do a deal with israel once this is done. We know other air countries signed the Abraham Accords under trumps watch. Amy i would ask you about the number of palestinian journalist that have been killed and the new u. N. Vacation that just accused israel of breaking International Law over the killing of the reuters video journalist in southern lebanon on october 13 an in is really take open fire on him and others. He had just set up a livestream on the border of southern lebanon so all of his colleagues saw him blown up most of the report stating the firing as civilians in this instance clearly identifiable journalist constitutes a violation of International Law. It is not just in southern lebanon. Well over 100 palestinian journalists in gaza have died. We have never seen anything like the concentration of numbers of journalists killed in any other conflict or conflicts combined recently. Can you talk about the lack of outrage of other major news organizations and what israel is doing here . Do you think there directly targeted, what after another, wearing those wellknown press flak jackets . It looks like we just lost audio to mehdi hassan. I can hear you very faintly. Im going to answer your question if you can still hear me. Amy we can hear you perfectly. You are very faint. It is an absolute tragedy and a scandal what is happening to journalists in gaza that weve seen so many deaths in gaza and the real scandal is the western media, a lot of my colleagues in the u. S. Media, have not sounded the alarm, have not called out israel for what it has done. It is outrageous so many of our colleagues can be killed in gaza while reporting, losing Family Members, and yet theres not a huge global outcry. The man we just on the screen from al jazeera, when he loses his immediate Family Member and continues reporting, why is he not on every front page of the world . Why is he not a hero . Why is he not sitting down with Oprah Winfrey . What a journalist was wrongly imprisoned in journalists, we all campaigned for him to be released. But when palestinian journalists are killed at levels we have never seen before, where is the outcry in the west . We claim to oppose countries that crackdown on free press. Was a journalism is not a crime. But i dont see any outreach for my colleagues here. This barbarism and gaza were journalists are being killed in record numbers. Nermeen lets go to another issue that is an oppressing one this year, namely the u. S. Elections. You said the problem with the media here is it is singularly unable to cover trump properly trump, who is now the nominee. If you could explain what you mean by that . And what the effects of that are going to be this year . Good question. Three quick things. As i mentioned at the start, one of the reasons i set up zeteos because i believe there is a fascist threat to the u. S. From the moderate republican party, including its now official candidate donald trump. We need to speak freely about what that threat is. We need to say the f word and not pretend donald trump is a normal candidate and normalize his authoritarianism and bigotry. What were saying after 2020 will loose saw some improvement in our coverage of trump, i feel like we have regressed back to 2016 committee ways. Benefiting from whatever ratings and asking him softball questions. He recently did an interview at msnbc and that was embarrassing to watch. Second, there is this issue where, look, we have this issue of access journalism were journalists still need to be able to get guests on air from both parties and theres this both sidesism and the media needs to think hard about how we do journalism. The old rules cant apply. There are not two sides to every story. There are not two sides to Holocaust Denial or Climate Change or elections. We need to be clear eyed about what is in front was to have some respect for our viewers and readers and tell them what is going on. One of our two major parties has been fully radicalized, is now in bed with white supremacists, and spreading some of the biggest qanon theories out there. Three, in terms of the dangers, we have skin in the game. Decided that the media should be a parcel should be impartial. Media survival is at stake. If donald trump wins the election, what you think is going to happen . He has talked about wanting to come after nbc and msnbc. Going up to the media criminally and civilly. My davis says if trump except ag, he is going to put me in Guantanamo Bay. Mike davis says if trump makes him ag, hes going to put me in Guantanamo Bay. Amy in our next segment, the bill to ban tiktok, the measure will now be taken up by the senate. I want to ask about a particular aspect of it. Palestinian rights activist a israels war in gaza has galvanized antitake talk sentiment in conservative and centrist lawmakers. An elite audio recording, Jonathan Greenblatt can be heard saying we have a tiktok problem referencing declining public support for israel among younger people. The Progressive Group rootsaction noted aipac is the top donor to Congressmember Mike Gallagher who authored the tiktok and bill. This is coming is donald trump flipflopped, flipped his position on the bill within the league opposing the ban after recently meeting with republican mecca donor billionaire jeff yass whose Company Holds a 15 stake in bytedance post interestingly, major donor to rightwing israeli think tanks. Your take on the aspect of this . First off, donald trump doesnt believe in anything other than himself so he should really be supporting this bill. It aligns with his antichina positions. But he is not because donald trump lisa nothing but himself. In terms of the tiktok problem, clearly it is a problem. If you have a sanitized war on Mainstream Media but showing younger viewers what is going on on tiktok, it is a problem for the israeli pr machine and the United States. It is ironic was a it has to do with china and not knowing what is going on inside this company. Come on. I have an issue with chinese ownership like anyone else, but the idea that other social Media Companies are somehow transparent or doing a better job on moderation . Look at elon musk this week canceled don limits new show on his platform on x because he asked moderately tough questions. Billionaires controlling our public squares. The idea of dealing with tiktok will help us challenge extremism online is a complete lie. Amy we want to thank you for being with us and we will continue this discussion about tiktok in our next section. Mehdi hasan, journalist, author, and editorinchief and ceo of the new Media Company zeteo. Until january, he was the host on msnbc and peacock. All of the best to you. Thank you. Amy next up, the u. S. House has passed a bill that could ban tiktok. Back in 15 seconds. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen in a rare show of bipartisanship, house lawmakers overwhelmingly voted wednesday to force a social media at tiktoks chinese owner bytedance to either sell the app or face a ban in the United States. On this vote, the yeas our thread of 52, nays are 65. The bill is passed. Amy tictac has more than 170 million users in the United States alone. The largest tiktok audience in the world. This is republican this is cumbersome member. First, mike gallagher. Tiktok is a threat to our National Security because it is owned by bytedance which does the bidding of the Chinese Communist party. This bill forces to talk to break up with the Chinese Communist party. It does not apply to american companies. A person when tiktok has appear before congress, whether it is before the house energy and Commerce Committee or otherwise, it has not been candid. It has not and candid. Tiktok said its data is not accessible to bytedance employees. False. They routinely access this data. Amy the last voice is democrat congressmember. Nermeen the bill that could lead to a tiktok ban was backed by democrats. This is hakeem jeffries. I dont support a ban on tiktok. The legislation did not ban tiktok. It is simply a of tiktok so that the socially deplatform can be owned by an American Company that would protect the data in a privacy of the American Consumer from malignant foreign interest like the chinese, and. Amy mike johnson said he will push for the senate to approve the bill which President Joe Biden has said he would sign. This is Marjorie Taylor greene there are dangers that lie ahead in this. This is really about controlling americans data. If we cared about americans data, then we would stop the sale of americans data universally, not just with china. Amy the bill is the greatest threat to tiktok since the Trump Administration when trump had implemented tiktok crackdown that was struck down in federal courts. He did flip his position last week after he met with leaner investor gop mega donor jeff yass who has a 15 stake in the parent company. Meanwhile, Rights Groups like the aclu say such a ban would violate the right to free speech. For more we are joined by Ramesh Srinivasan, professor of information studies at ucla and host of the podcast the utopias. Author of beyond the valley how innovators around the world are overcoming inequality and creating the technologies of tomorrow. He is joining us from mexico. Thank you for being back with us. We only have a few minutes. You do not approve of this band. Can you talk about your concerns . It is disenfranchising too many young people in the United States. It is alienating to them. It is singling out tiktok and china without any evidence whatsoever that they are engaging in any nefarious or spying activity or their algorithms in the way the polaroids american users than any of the Big Tech Companies which we have discussed before. It is absurd and theatrical for people like Mark Zuckerberg etc. To be paraded in front of congress multiple times and publicly shamed while the actual legislation that takes root is one that singles out tiktok primarily because it is a Chinese Company and possibly because it is so prominent amongst americans and young people in general in this country. Nermeen could you talk about how this fits into the way other countries have responded to tiktok . India was the first one to ban it. It had the highest number of tiktok users in the world. And the fact so many european governments, eu, britain, and others, australia as well, canada, have placed severe restrictions on the use of tiktok on their private mobile devices . Have they done the same thing for facebook or twitter, now x . In india, seems to play to geopolitical tensions with china. China is being set up as some sort of antagonist folly for whatever actions the state wish to take at this point. That does nothing good to do with the real issues. We look at most abuses that big to as specifically social media platforms have laid upon the world were we are primarily talking about facebook, google, and so on. There is little to no evidence. It is incredible a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers would want to take a major instrument of free speech but also of conversation and discussion, especially amongst young people who feel so alienated and out of touch with the political apparatus in the United States to just sort of take them off the platform altogether. There is really no evidence to back that up. We needs Digital Rights legislation that really applies to every social Media Company and gives americans power over their own data. Amy one of the things trump said he switched his meeting after meeting with a billionaire tiktok investor and now against the ban but he said it will give more power to what he calls the enemy of the people, facebook. But in fact, talk about that and how it them privileges u. S. And other companies but they still cant invade the privacy of people, sell off all of our data , and what exactly a privacy bill would look like that you would approve of. Thank you for asking the question. Politically, it is sort of strange and surreal world that mehdi hassan was discussing with you all when we see sort of right wingers take on, i would as they antiwar positions, but more isolationist position. Trump recognizes young people are on this platform and he recognizes now with more and more alienated young people that he could potentially gain their support. Facebook in particular but many big tech platforms have committed repeated abuses around the world from labor practices to the carrying of exploited content moderators to masking disinformation that is been tied to genocide and other parts of the world to supportive authoritarian leaders and someone. Trumps critique of facebook is based on his not supporting his voice atlarge all the time and extreme content he always puts out. What we need is to recognize everything we do in our lives not just true in the u. S. Or here in mexico almost everything we do is turned into data. It is what we call digital footprints. At that date is been harvested by private corporations and states, basically everybody but ourselves. It is a taking way of democratic power. What we need to do is have power ourselves and have power over controlling what data is being collected about us, how it is being retained and aggregated, bought and sold. What we need is expansive legislation that deals with the economic outcomes of Digital Rights. We need to support data unions, paying people so people have equity and data grabbing corporations. Many of these corporations started on the backs of an internet that all of us paid for, american taxpayers. Use our roads and infrastructure without paying taxes. We need personal rights so we control. We need to ask Big Questions aboutwhat should not be datafied a not in the heads of these she to corporations. Recognizing our data are bought and sold and that can be very much a violation of free competition. Weve seen a lot of trade commission acts and what this is being done is wield us into influencing our behavior can our lives, constructing our consumption, even our sense of desire. As we have talked about, it is reinforcing discrimination dredges from the tory algorithm and practices. Discriminatory rhythms and practices. Really bleed into the question of the economic rights we all have and need to have around the planet in our digital lives. Amy we want to thank you for being with us, Ramesh Srinivasan , professor of information studies at ucla and host of the podcast the utopias. Author of beyond the valley so many young people were calling into congress sayin