Lauren Moye, FISM NEWS
TikTok is known for controversy and setting trends. Now, the social media platform is under fire again for facilitating human trafficking.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott named the platform as one way that Mexican cartels are recruiting smugglers during a roundtable meeting on border security on Thursday. He asked other states in attendance to consider a lawsuit against TikTok as a practical step to fight back against what Abbott characterized as a border “disaster”.
“TikTok should be ashamed, condemned, and have a legal action brought against it for promoting human trafficking in Texas and the United States of America,” said Abbott.
While Abbott says TikTok holds some responsibility for the border crisis, he mainly placed the blame at President Joe Biden’s feet for his ineffective border control policies:
Texas is responding in full force to the Biden administration’s failure to address the disaster at our border, and our efforts are made stronger by the collaboration with other state leaders from across the country.
Attorney Generals from the following states attended the border briefing at the Weslaco headquarters of the Department of Public Service: Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia. Florida and Missouri attorney generals intended to attend but were too delayed to be present.
Abbott thanked those who came for their support inferring states needed to collaborate to keep “communities safe across America”:
Like Texas, the attorneys general here today are working night and day to provide the safety and security Americans demand and deserve, and I thank them for their support and continued efforts to secure our border and to keep communities across America safe.
Abbott additionally said that the gathered attorneys general need “to hold the president accountable” for what he termed an “abandonment of the rule of law” regarding human trafficking and drug trafficking concerns.
One of the issues that Abbott said Biden had “abandoned” the states on was the amount of drugs entering the country, saying enough fentanyl had been seized by DPS troopers, National Guard troops, and state game wardens “to kill every man, woman, and child” of all twelve states represented at the meeting.
FISM previously reported that the lethal drug had a tremendous surge in border confiscations during 2021. Families Against Fentanyl has also released data showing that fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-45.
The Lone Star governor slammed Biden on Twitter after this revelation, accusing the president of not caring about fentanyl fatalities.
Those at the meeting discussed how drug trafficking is much more than a border state problem. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said during the round-table discussion that his state was “dealing with this just like everyone else seated at the table who has an influx in the opioid epidemic and human trafficking.”
Abbott claimed that immigration and customs enforcement officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection agents canceled their meetings with the attorney generals.
Although the attorney generals discussed taking legal action against TikTok, no official lawsuit has been filed yet.