WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s reelection campaign plans to continue using TikTok for at least the next year, despite the president signing a bill Wednesday that would ban the social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company not sell it within that period.
“A fragmented media environment demands that we show up and meet voters where they are — and that includes online,” a Biden campaign official told NBC News. “Tik Tok is one of the many places where we ensure our content is seen by voters.”
The Biden campaign says it plans to use “every tool we have to reach young voters where they are” and has promised to continue using “enhanced security measures.”
The statement comes a day after his campaign declined to comment on whether it would continue using TikTok ahead of the bill’s final approval.
Initially, sources close to Biden’s reelection effort said the 2024 campaign would not use the app, but the campaign ultimately decided to launch its own account in February.
The videos they post often feature Biden himself — even though his own White House has said so.legitimate national security concerns with regards to data integrity” on the app. A second campaign official said it’s too early to say whether Biden will still be part of TikTok’s content.
The account, @bidenhq, has more than 306,000 followers and has posted almost 120 videos. Biden’s 2024 competitor, former President Donald Trump, is not on TikTok.
The new law gives TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, nine months to sell the app or face a ban in the US. The president could grant a one-time 90-day extension, but even without it, the earliest a ban could begin is January.
Biden’s team also expects that there could be potential legal challenges to the legislation, which could delay the timeline of any possible ban in the US as well.
Advisors acknowledge that many young people are concerned about what signing this bill could mean for one of their favorite online applications, but the campaign insisted that this move will not harm its standing with that key demographic.
“Just as he did in 2020, Joe Biden will beat Trump with the support of young voters who know he has kept his promises and is committed to delivering on the issues that matter most to them: fighting climate change, reforming gun laws, reducing student loans, and build a country that moves us forward, not backwards”, said the first person responsible for the campaign.
“Reducing youth voting to the use of a social media app is unserious, inaccurate and insulting: in election after election, young people continue to show us that they understand what is at stake right now and that they will vote as if their future If it depended on it – because they do.”
The second person responsible for the campaign emphasized that its digital reach extends far beyond TikTok, with Facebook, Instagram and a network of supporting influencers as key pieces of this strategy.
The campaign is proud to have launched the largest and longest-running youth voter outreach program ever last month, with 15 youth organizations supporting the president.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
