President Joe Biden signed the bill this week that could ban TikTok from the U.S. if its parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell the platform. According to young political content creators, the ban could impact Generation Z’s access to political news and information.
“Unfortunately, many 18- to 24-year-olds find out information about local elections via TikTok, which breaks my heart.” Emma Mont, a political content creator, told TechCrunch. According to the Pew Research Center, about a third of American adults between the ages of 18 and 29 regularly get their news from TikTok.
“I think it’s going to have an impact not only on the people who are providing information, but also on the people who are receiving that information,” Mont said. “One of the reasons I make the content that I make is; that I know there is someone watching and that this is the first time they have said anything about Roe v. Wade or whatever I’m talking about learns.”
For most content creators, the transition away from TikTok is difficult, but not insurmountable – many full-time creators are already cultivating cross-platform followers rather than relying on one platform to prepare for exactly this worst-case scenario (think Vine). ?).
Instagram Reels is a clear alternative to TikTok, but not a real option for political creators. Since March, Instagram has been filtering out political content from users you don’t already follow. This means that it is fundamentally impossible for political actors and activists to reach a wider audience.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Pratika Katiyar, a Northeastern University student and research fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. “There is no need for Instagram to restrict political content. This just drives users away from their platforms.”
Even before the latest Instagram policy update, users reported that their posts about the war in Gaza were being suppressed. Meta communications director Andy Stone attributed these complaints to an “error” that had “nothing to do with the topic” of the posts.
“I post a lot on mine [Instagram] “I wrote a story about politics and the work that I do, and it’s going to be really, really hard,” Katiyar told TechCrunch. “There is no way to be visible on Instagram anymore, and now that political content is being restricted, I just fear that will only get worse.”
These complaints were so widespread among YouTubers that Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri addressed the issue in threads.
“Before some of you say that ‘the algorithm’ is the culprit, realize that rankings and recommendations *increase* the number of posts that reach people,” Mosseri wrote.
Lawmakers insist that this bill is not a ban. Rather, they say it is a forced divestment of TikTok from its Chinese parent company. But ByteDance may have a hard time finding an American company that can afford to buy TikTok without raising antitrust concerns. Even if a buyer is found, the Chinese government still has the power to block a forced sale.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s re-election campaign is posting multiple TikToks per day and has amassed over 300,000 followers since the account was created in February.
“I’m even more surprised that Biden signed it into law,” TikTok creator Annie Silkaitis told TechCrunch. “I think it will be such a hot topic this year that his campaign is running on the app while he is actively trying to ban it or force it to be sold. It just feels very hypocritical.”
An obstacle for Biden’s election campaign
Biden’s decision to settle on TikTok makes sense: It’s a platform where over 170 million Americans spend their time. This is particularly true for younger voters, who belong to a key voting bloc with historically low turnout. But Biden’s presence on the app, which he is helping to ban, is angering users.
“Being on TikTok is a brilliant campaign move, but I think taking it away is a bit of a shot in the foot,” Mont said. “How do you deal with those two real things, which is that you’re banning TikTok and your campaign is on TikTok has been very well received?”
If TikTok is actually banned, it will definitely not be removed from the app stores until well after Election Day. Under the bill signed by Biden, ByteDance has nine months to divest TikTok, with a possible 90-day extension. Additionally, TikTok is expected to take significant legal action against the legislation.
However, Biden’s stance on TikTok could still influence him in November.
“With TikTok banned, it was one of the biggest sources of news for Gen Z. It was a place where people felt like their voices were being heard. And now that’s being taken away,” Katiyar said. “I think this is worrying for the outcome of the election. And I do think people will be hesitant to vote now… We feel like no one is really listening to our concerns right now.”
A Harvard youth survey shows that voter turnout among 18- to 29-year-olds will be lower in 2024 than in 2020.
Not only does this move hurt Biden’s chances of securing the youth vote, but it also fails to harness the power of the internet. Although the Biden campaign has met with movers and shakers, the president’s organic reach could be limited if online activists are comfortable with his candidacy.
Online momentum can shape an election. During the 2020 election cycle, for example, youth across the U.S. organized online for Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), calling themselves the “Markeyverse.” Most of them weren’t even eligible to vote in the Massachusetts Senate election because of their age or place of residence, but they supported the senator for his stance on curbing climate change. This network of Markey fan accounts helped the incumbent defeat a formidable challenger, Rep. Joe Kennedy III.
“Engaging young people online in a way that appeals to them gets them excited about political races that they might not otherwise have had a stake in,” Mott said.
However, TikTok users are unlikely to rally behind Biden in any way reminiscent of the Markeyverse.
Some YouTubers are frustrated by a lack of context for the TikTok ban. While the Senate participated in closed briefings about TikTok’s threat to national security, very little information emerged in public hearings. These hearings have only shown how little our lawmakers know about the internet – last year, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew whether TikTok accesses Wi-Fi.
“If President Biden went out today and said China was intentionally putting XYZ on your TikTok feed, I would say, ‘Okay, thanks for telling me, that’s all I need.’ But it’s all like, ‘Oh, we don’t understand the algorithm.’ Well, we don’t understand a lot of algorithms!” said Mont. “My biggest gripe with all of this as a political content creator is the question: How much data does Mark have Zuckerberg and Elon Musk access?”
The creators probably won’t get any answers soon. At the moment they are in limbo.
“It’s something I’ll probably talk about every day until something happens, which probably won’t be for another year or two, and that’s scary,” Silkaitis said. “How long will this take?”