President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign plans to remain on TikTok despite the president signing a bill into law on Wednesday that could potentially ban the social media app due to security concerns related to Chinese interference.
The bill, which is tied to the $95 billion foreign aid package passed by the Senate, would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless ByteDance, its Chinese-based parent company, divests from the company within the next nine months, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
A key reason for this decision is concern that Chinese officials could force the application to provide information on American users, which could pose a security threat if ByteDance supplies the information.
Despite the concern about national security and information being provided to the Chinese government, an official from the Biden-Harris campaign has confirmed with Fox News that the campaign “will stay on TikTok.”
Kahlil Greene has more than 650,000 followers on TikTok and has spoken out against the Biden campaign’s decision to remain on the controversial platform.
“There’s a core hypocrisy to the Biden administration supporting the TikTok ban while at the same time using TikTok for his campaign purposes,” he said, according to ABC News.
“I think it illustrates that he and his people know the power and necessity of TikTok.”
Although many younger voters have directed backlash from this decision to the president, a Biden campaign official said that the campaign will continue to use the platform and will utilize “enhanced security measures” because TikTok “is one of many places we’re making sure our content is being seen by voters.”
“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,” the official told The Hill.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified that the law that Biden signed “is not a ban. This is about our national security.” She said the administration is not saying “that we do not want Americans to use TikTok,” ABC News reported.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew announced shortly after the bill was signed that the company plans to fight against the potential ban through legal action, noting that he is confident that the platform will be allowed to stay in the U.S.
“The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again,” he said, as reported by DX.
Former President Donald Trump previously attempted to have the platform banned through an executive order in 2020, but a federal judge ruled that he overstepped his authority and allowed TikTok to remain, according to NPR.
It remains unclear whether ByteDance will pursue any potential divestment from the company or what specific legal steps could be coming next.
