On Sunday, US President Joe Biden made a delayed entrance to TikTok, introducing himself to the short-form video platform with a 26-second video. The move indicates that the 81-year-old Democratic leader wants to broaden his outreach to younger voters, a key component of his reelection effort. Biden’s campaign and the nonprofit group Building Back Together plan to use their new accounts to communicate the president’s legislative agenda to the app’s predominantly young user base, which has already embraced other social media platforms like Instagram.
TikTok is hugely popular in the United States, where it has more than doubled its downloads since last year to 67 million users. The app has become the number one ranked iPhone application, according to Apple, and is especially popular among Americans under 30. The site is also a significant source of news and information for many people, with 63 percent of teens reporting that they follow political issues on the platform, according to a study by Pew Research Center.
But the company’s popularity has come at a cost, with a wave of fierce US government criticism of the app in recent years. Republicans have primarily led the charge, but the criticism has also gathered momentum from within the Biden administration. Last month, the Congressional Select Committee on Chinese Intelligence held an explosive hearing with TikTok’s CEO, and lawmakers introduced a bill to ban the app, known as RESTRICT, on security grounds.
Despite the concerns about the app’s ownership by a Chinese firm, the company has pushed back against the allegations. It has said it would not share user data with the Chinese government and has taken significant steps to protect users’ privacy. And it has resisted calls to make the app available only on devices owned by federal agencies, noting that there are “advanced security precautions” it can take for those uses.
Biden’s move comes as he faces challenges in his efforts to win over young voters, who are expected to be a significant portion of the 2024 electorate. Polling suggests that millennials and Gen Z are increasingly dissatisfied with his leadership, though it is unclear whether the issue can be tied directly to the president’s policies.
But if the president’s team hopes to reframe that narrative around his efforts on their behalf, it will need to show them in action. That could start with how they respond to a question from the audience in the upcoming first TikTok town hall. The Democrat’s campaign and the nonprofit group will also use their accounts to communicate with voters through live video. And they will work with creators and users with large followings to spread the message. Those efforts will be closely watched.
