President Biden\u2019s re-election campaign is reportedly weighing privately whether to join the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok.<\/p>\n
Axios first reported on Friday that Biden\u2019s team was considering using the platform, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, though a spokesman for the president\u2019s re-election downplayed the story.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s talks about potentially joining TikTok come after his administration banned the app from being used on federal devices earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration set a 30-day deadline in late February for government agencies to purge the app from federal devices.<\/p>\n
The Chinese-owned social media platform is incredibly popular among younger Americans. Biden has joined forces with TikTok influencers amid his re-election run, and the Democratic National Committee itself joined the platform.<\/p>\n
However, the president\u2019s campaign joining the Beijing-based social media platform could present unique security risks for Biden.<\/p>\n
Most notably, the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s cybersecurity law allows government authorities to access companies\u2019 data.<\/p>\n
Many Republicans resist using TikTok due to data security concerns, while an increasing number of Democrats, notably those with aspirations for higher office, have adopted the platform.<\/p>\n
The Biden campaign pointed to a social media post published by spokesperson TJ Ducklo, who appeared to confirm that the campaign had at least discussed the possibility. Responding to the report on X, Ducklo wrote, \u2018[laugh out loud] this is not a scoop.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Campaigns talk about a bunch of stuff and some we do and a bunch we don\u2019t,\u2019 Ducklo wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018If we have news to share we\u2019ll let yall know!\u2019 Ducklo added.<\/p>\n