Preposterous for Republicans and Democrats to mock Biden’s appearance on TikTok.

February 23, 2024

BEIJING – US President Joe Biden’s recent appearance on TikTok as part of an outreach to young voters ahead of the November election has, expectedly, sparked a controversy given his administration’s previous hardline stance against the short-video platform citing security concerns. In fact they even banned it on federal devices. The reason: TikTok is owned by the Chinese private company ByteDance.

It’s no surprise that TikTok has become a focal point in the verbal sparring among US politicians leading up to the November election. Yet, TikTok is simply a widely used social media platform accessible in over 150 nations. It has no intention of compromising the security of other countries. If popularity is deemed a threat, then US technology and popular culture would pose significant threats to the global community.

Therefore, it is preposterous for both Republicans and Democrats to mock Biden’s decision to involve TikTok. For a considerable time, a primary concern among lawmakers and other government officials has been the potential for TikTok to share data on US users with the Chinese government or for the Chinese government to compel the platform to manipulate the content shown to users based in the United States. According to US reasoning, anyone using US computers, phones, or software would encounter similar risks of exposure to US intelligence.

In March last year, when skeptical US lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over national security concerns, Chew’s responses were often cut short as members of Congress asked for “yes” or “no” responses. Last month, in a tense congressional testimony over online safety for children, US Senator Tom Cotton repeatedly asked Singaporean TikTok CEO Chew