(Bloomberg) — When President Joe Biden returned to the White House after delivering his State of the Union address, 23-year-old TikTok influencer Awa Sanneh joined the roaring cheers alongside administrative staff gathered on the back porch of the mansion.
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Biden told the group “how important it is” for social media content to reach Gen Z voters, Sanneh recalled, among dozens of creators invited to a watch party that evening.
Weeks later, Biden signed into law a bill that requires TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., to sell its stake or face being banned from U.S. app stores. It shook social media creators: his campaign took unprecedented steps in court.
“I’m pretty critical of him right now,” said Sanneh, who has attended several administrative briefings and has more than 510,000 followers. “If you really understood the impact, then you would want to keep TikTok.”
Biden’s embrace of the divestment or ban bill illustrates his efforts to contain what administration officials and lawmakers from both parties see as a growing threat to China’s national security. Nevertheless, he continues to promote his political message on the platform.
None of the influencers who spoke to Bloomberg News said Biden lost their vote. However, the new law risks discouraging young voters, who have propelled the app to the mainstream and are critical to Democrats’ electoral victories. Many are already not excited about Biden’s re-election.
“Election after election, young people continue to show us that they understand the issues of this moment and that they will vote as if their future depends on it – because they do,” said Seth Schuster, spokesperson for the Biden campaign.
Kenny Walden, who has 167,000 followers on TikTok and has attended White House events, posted a video on the platform expressing confusion over Biden’s decision to support the bill over privacy and security concerns. data security.
@2rawtooreal2
My thoughts haven’t changed on the TikTok ban
♬ original sound – 2RawTooReal
“I’m against it, Joe,” said Walden, whose content aims to encourage people to vote for Biden. The president is silencing his “first line of defense,” he added, referring to creators like him.
Opponents of the bill say it threatens free speech and singles out the social media platform over other platforms collecting user data.
White House officials maintain that their intention is not to ban TikTok’s activity, but to force the app’s Chinese owner to lose interest in it. ByteDance’s 270-day deadline extends beyond November, allowing users to continue posting until the election.
“Our national security is at stake. This is not about concerns about Americans using Tiktok,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “There’s certainly time to see how this plays out.”
Earlier: US TikTok ban looms as Biden starts 270-day countdown
ByteDance has made it clear that it has no plans to sell,…
