Testifying before Congress on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew managed something we rarely see on Capitol Hill these days. Namely, an almost unanimous, united front against his company. Both Democrats and Republicans spent most of Thursday hammering away at Chew. A rare voice of support came from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who gathered with a few protesters to declare any possible ban on TikTok "racist". Oh, and because Republicans "had no swag."

Not so in the committee room. Responding to questions on privacy, security, data leakage, Chinese Communist Party access to data, and related surveillance capabilities, Chew had no good answers. It was thus left to journalists and various media outlets to go to bat for Chew.

Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell was the most outspoken on behalf of TikTok. It's an app that the Washington Post utilizes to churn out clever content for teenagers, employing an entire team of journalists to create short videos. "TikTok might downplay its ownership by a China-based company because members of Congress keep saying it's a secret Chinese spying machine owned by the Chinese Communist Party with zero evidence," Harwell tweeted . His lurch into opinion journalism aside, the reporter is apparently unaware that there is no such thing in China as a company that is not ultimately subordinate to the Communist Party. Incidentally, Harwell also bragged about dining with Chew personally for a profile. I’m curious about who picked up the check for that lunch.

The Los Angeles Times editorial board also came to TikTok’s rescue, writing that "Congress is scapegoating TikTok. It's no worse than other social media platforms."

Except ... that it is different. Very different. TikTok and the company’s parent company, ByteDance, are required by Chinese law to do whatever the Communist Party demands of them, which begs slight concern in view of TikTok's vast data hoovering capability and the Communist Party's hostility toward U.S. interests. This is not a hypothetical concern. When Forbes published a recent blockbuster report on TikTok’s surveillance capabilities, it also noted that two of its journalists had their personal data breached and their personal movements tracked by the app .

But for some in the media, it seems, there's just too much money to be made via TikTok. Too many eyeballs are glued to the app that media outlets are desperate to reach. That is why we see this tolerance for Communist Party influence: It's motivated by self-interest. The problem for Bowman and those dwindling numbers of Democrats still defending TikTok? They are endangering the national interest.

Of all people, however, journalists should be most skeptical of TikTok’s social engineering.

Stephen L. Miller ( @redsteeze ) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.