Biden’s TikTok ‘lol hey guys’ debut sparks concerns, White House says ‘nothing has changed’،
In a video captioned “lol hey guys,” Joe Biden made his TikTok debut and it's not going over well with his own team, as a Democratic senator said he was “concerned about National Security Implications of Chinese-Owned TikTok and Biden.” campaign decision to join.”
Reuters reports Democratic Senator Mark Warner's concerns: “I think we still have to find a way to keep up with India, which has banned TikTok. I'm a little worried about a mixed message”.
The “mixed message” is of course mentioned because Joe Biden signed a law in 2022 blocking most federal government apparatus from using TikTok for homeland security reasons.
In the United States, hundreds of millions of people – many of whom are young and just entering the wonderful world of voting rights – are untroubled by such concerns and use TikTok at all times. Last month, TikTok told Congress that 170 million Americans now use the short-video app, up from 150 million a year earlier.
This is exactly why Biden's appearance on TikTok during an election year is not accidental: Members of TikTok's population are considered potential voters, so shortcuts have to be taken. Mr Biden's TikTok account will not be run by the president himself, but by his campaign team, his aides have told US media, but that is hardly a surprise, given the recent press conferences of the POTUS.
The heat over Biden's TikTok debut isn't just coming from the left, but also from the right: The report says a number of Republican lawmakers also criticized the campaign's decision to join TikTok, citing reasons national security.
The Biden campaign now has more than 57,000 followers on TikTok. The Biden campaign said Sunday that it is taking “advanced security precautions around our devices and incorporating sophisticated security protocol to ensure safety” in an effort to court young voters who use the app.
Meanwhile, the Big House doesn't care. White House spokesman John Kirby said “nothing has changed in terms of national security concerns, from (the National Security Council's) perspective, regarding the use of TikTok on government devices. This policy is still in place.
