Democrats and the White House in particular are engaged in the classic “do as we say, not as we do” campaign. Even as President Joe Biden signed a bill that could lead to the ban of the social media app, his reelection campaign will remain on the platform.
Parent company ByteDance now has nine months to either sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. This law has been brewing for many months as leaders lament the vast troves of information swept up by the app.
By Chinese law, any and all information that is demanded by Communist Beijing officials must be handed over by TikTok.
Proponents of the ban proposed a standalone version, but it died in the Senate. But this time, supporters made sure it was included in the gargantuan foreign aid package Democrats pushed hard to pass.
Interestingly, the original six-month deadline transformed to nine months in the new measure. Just after the November presidential election.
Not coincidentally, the Biden reelection campaign announced this week that it will remain on TikTok through Election Day. The controversial app is extremely popular with young Americans, a demographic the president must nail down to have any chance against Trump.
A handful of American finance and tech tycoons are gearing up for multi-billion bids to buy TikTok after President Joe Biden signed an act which will force its Chinese owners to sell the app.https://t.co/YxfcjWDRJg pic.twitter.com/rwP1XfcoJR
— New York Post (@nypost) April 26, 2024
Biden’s deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty called the contention that the president should withdraw from TikTok “silly.” That is hardly a consensus in the Democratic administration.
FBI Director Christopher Wray gave a telling analysis of the platform’s danger. “This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government — and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns.”
That sentiment was echoed by John F. Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense and advisor to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
He noted that Beijing is very capable of using the app as a misinformation platform for its 170 million U.S. users. “And then, of course, the data that it can collect. So, it is the scale of it I think that is problematic really for us.”
But apparently the Biden camp is just fine with using the app to reach young potential voters.
Never known as the voice of reason, even White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre raised concerns. “We want to make sure that there’s a divestment…TikTok should not be owned…by a country that’s trying to harm us. That’s the national security concern here.”
