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US President Joe Biden will continue to use TikTok to help his re-election campaign even after signing legislation that will force the Chinese owner of the video-sharing platform to divest the app because of security concerns.
A Biden campaign official said the app — which has been downloaded by 170mn Americans, more than half the population — was one of the ways the president would ensure his message was being received by young voters ahead of November’s election.
“When the stakes are this high in the election, we are going to use every tool we have to reach young voters where they are,” said the official, who added that “enhanced security measures” were in place.
Biden on Wednesday signed a $95bn aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that included a measure to tackle what US national security officials view as the threat of Chinese group ByteDance, which owns TikTok.
Under the legislation, US app stores will be banned from carrying TikTok — or facilitating updates — in 270 days unless ByteDance divests the app. The deadline would fall on January 19, one day before the presidential inauguration, unless Biden opts to provide a 90-day extension.
TikTok on Wednesday said it would take legal action to block the measure from coming into force. It said the law was an “unconstitutional” attempt to in effect ban it.
The Biden campaign posted its first TikTok video on February 11, the day of the Super Bowl. It was viewed more than 10mn times. But just under half of the 149 videos his campaign has posted since then have been seen by fewer than 100,000 viewers. Only nine have received more than 1mn views.
Congress moved with unusual speed to pass the TikTok legislation after it was introduced last month by Mike Gallagher, the now-retired chair of the House China committee. Republicans and Democrats ignored an aggressive lobby campaign by TikTok, particularly after they received classified briefings from security officials who warned that Chinese ownership threatened the personal data of Americans.
FBI director Christopher Wray this week said ByteDance was “beholden” to the Chinese government, although TikTok has denied claims that Beijing has control over the app. US officials stress that Chinese national security laws would require its owner to hand over data if requested by Beijing.
“When Americans stop and think about how do they feel about the power, the access, the capability, the control that TikTok has, they need to be thinking about it in terms of how do they feel about that same power, access, capability, control in the hands of TikTok’s parent in [the] Chinese government, and ultimately in the Chinese intelligence service,” Wray told NBC television on Tuesday.
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