To solidify its support base among young voters in the United States in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign has inaugurated an official TikTok account. The decision to utilize the video-sharing platform, which is owned by the Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, comes amidst ongoing scrutiny in the U.S. regarding potential national security implications associated with TikTok.
Numerous American lawmakers have persistently advocated for the prohibition of TikTok due to apprehensions that the Chinese government might access user data or influence the content displayed on the platform. As a response to these concerns, the Biden administration mandated federal government agencies to remove TikTok from devices owned by the government last year.
Although TikTok has asserted its commitment to safeguarding the privacy of its American users and has vowed not to share their data with the Chinese government, the platform remains under intense scrutiny. TikTok has yet to comment on the Biden campaign's recent decision to join the platform.
According to advisors from the Biden campaign, the initiative to join TikTok is part of their broader strategy to engage with voters across various social media platforms, including Meta Platform's Instagram and Truth Social, which was launched by former President Donald Trump.
The campaign emphasizes that it has implemented advanced security measures for its devices and that its presence on TikTok is independent of the ongoing security evaluation of the app.
In contrast, Trump, who is considered the leading contender for the Republican nomination in the presidential election, does not currently maintain an official TikTok account.
The inaugural video posted by the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account playfully addressed a fringe conservative conspiracy theory suggesting that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs football team. During a rapid-fire Q&A segment, Biden humorously responded to a question about whether he was scheming to manipulate the outcome of the football season in favor of the Chiefs or if the team's success was solely due to their prowess on the field.
Since its launch, the TikTok account has garnered approximately 10,900 followers as of Sunday night.
