Despite signing the TikTok “ban” bill, President Joe Biden plans to continue to use the platform to campaign for re-election reports the Financial Times.
Biden signed the bill into law yesterday (April 14) as part of a foreign aid package sending 95 billion dollars to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The bill requires TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest itself from the app within the next year. If the company fails to do so TikTok will be banned in the U.S. The deadline Jan. 19 falls on the day before the presidential inauguration.
The ban comes amid security concerns. Lawmakers who argued for the ban are concerned that because a Chinese company owns TikTok it could hand American users’ data over to the Chinese government, despite TikTok denying that it shares data with the Chinese government. There are 170 million American users of TikTok, more than half the population and Biden’s campaign has taken note of the platform’s reach.
Biden’s campaign still sees the app as a way to reach young voters. A Biden campaign official told the Financial Times, “When the stakes are this high in the election, we are going to use every tool we have to reach young voters where they are.” The official also ensured “enhanced security measures” were in place.
Biden first joined the platform on the day of the Super Bowl (Feb. 11). His account has since posted 140 videos accumulating a mere 3.8 million likes. The president only has 308,200 followers on the platform.