TikTok teens target Trump campaign in ‘revenge’ for threat to ban Chinese app
- Thousands of users flood Apple store with negative reviews of president’s 2020 re-election app in bid to get it removed
- App is big part Trump’s digital operation and was meant to circumvent tech companies like Facebook and Twitter to give campaign direct line to supporters
The TikTok-tivists are at it again.
Thousands of users of the popular video app flocked to the Apple App Store in the last few days to flood US President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign app with negative reviews. On Wednesday alone 700 negative reviews were left on the Official Trump 2020 app and 26 positive ones, according to tracking firm Sensor Tower.
TikTok fans are retaliating for Trump’s threats of banning the app, which is owned by China’s Bytedance and is hugely popular in the US, especially among teens. The thought of taking away a key social and entertainment hub in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to outrage.
“For Gen Z and millennials, TikTok is our clubhouse and Trump threatened it,” said Yori Blacc, a 19-year-old TikTok user in California who joined in the app protest. “If you’re going to mess with us, we will mess with you.”
Blacc said the movement gained steam on Wednesday when a popular TikTok user, DeJuan Booker, called on his 750,000 followers to seek revenge. He posted a step-by-step primer on how to degrade the app’s rating, notching 5.6 million views. “Gen Z don’t go down without a fight,” said Booker, who goes by @unusualbeing on TikTok. “Let’s go to war.”