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US President Joe Biden will continue to use TikTok to support his re-election campaign even after signing a law forcing the video-sharing platform’s Chinese owner to divest the app over security concerns.
A Biden campaign official said the app – which has been downloaded by 170 million Americans, more than half the population – is one of the president’s ways to ensure his message resonates with young voters ahead of the November election.
“With so much at stake in the election, we will use every means at our disposal to reach young voters where they are,” the official said, adding that “enhanced security measures” were in place.
Biden signed a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday that included a measure to combat the threat posed by Chinese group ByteDance, which owns TikTok, according to U.S. national security officials.
Under the legislation, U.S. app stores are banned from carrying TikTok or enabling updates for 270 days unless ByteDance divests the app. The deadline would fall on Jan. 19, a day before the presidential inauguration, unless Biden opts for a 90-day extension.
TikTok said on Wednesday it would take legal action to prevent the measure from taking effect. It said the law was an “unconstitutional” attempt to effectively ban it.
The Biden campaign released its first TikTok video on February 11, the day of the Super Bowl. It has been viewed more than 10 million times. But nearly 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 1 million views.
Congress passed the TikTok bill with unusual speed after it was introduced last month by Mike Gallagher, the now-retired chairman of the House China Committee. Republicans and Democrats ignored an aggressive lobbying campaign by TikTok, particularly after receiving classified briefings from security officials warning that Chinese property was putting Americans’ personal information at risk.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said this week that ByteDance is “indebted” to the Chinese government, although TikTok has rejected claims that Beijing has control of the app. U.S. officials emphasize that China’s national security laws would require the owner to hand over data if Beijing requests it.
“When Americans stop and think about what they think of the power, access, ability and control that TikTok has, they need to think about what they think of the same power, access, ability. Control is in the hands of TikTok’s parents [the] Chinese government and ultimately Chinese intelligence,” Wray told NBC television on Tuesday.