Joe Biden’s re-election campaign won’t stop using TikTok, despite US divestment-or-ban bill
- US President Joe Biden signed a bill on Wednesday that could ban TikTok from US app stores
- His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway to reach crucial younger voters for November election
Joe Biden’s re-election campaign plans to continue using TikTok, a campaign official said, shortly after the US president signed into law a bill that would ban the app if its Chinese owner fails to divest it.
“A fragmented media environment requires us to show up and meet voters where they are - and that includes online. TikTok is one of many places we’re making sure our content is being seen by voters,” said a Biden campaign official, who declined to be named.
The campaign will use “enhanced security measures” while using the app, the official said. Biden’s campaign staff are not employed by the government and do not deal with national security issues, so they are allowed to have the app on their phones, campaign officials had previously said.
The Biden campaign account on TikTok, @bidenhq, has posted close to 120 videos and has more than 306,000 followers, and routinely posts videos of Biden there, even as the White House says TikTok causes “legitimate national security concerns”.