President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign remains on Communist China’s TikTok despite him signing a contentious foreign aid package that included a provision that could lead to the outright ban of the social media app.
ByteDance, the parent company of the controversial platform, 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.
Information that by Chinese law ByteDance must turn over to Communist Beijing officials if demanded.
A standalone version of the potential TikTok ban failed 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.
Even White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre voiced 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.”
Obviously no concern for the Biden campaign. Win at all costs is a bad look for an American president, especially when it involves the nation the U.S. is most likely to go to war with in the future.
