The Biden campaign is reportedly considering joining the popular Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok in an attempt to sway young voters in the upcoming election. This comes months after the Trump administration effectively banned the app from U.S. federal government devices due to security concerns.
The New York Times reported that the Biden campaign was in preliminary discussions with TikTok, which could set the stage for the campaign to use the platform to reach out younger voters. The Times said that such a move by the Democrat could give the candidate a boost if the platform was used as an effective tool to connect with people.
In July, the Trump administration accused TikTok of biomaterially sharing its American user’s data with authorities in Beijing and ordered the app to be banned on federal government devices. There have been talks recently that an American company may buy the app and Trump has given his blessing in favoring such a move, so long as the security concerns are addressed.
If the Biden campaign were to join TikTok, it would be a major shift in stance from the Trump administration’s stance as well as an acknowledgement that the app has a fear place in social media and has become popular amongst the younger generations. It is unclear yet how the Biden campaign plans to position itself on the popular social media platform and the extent to which it may leverage it.
