US ban of TikTok would rob Biden, Democrats of 2024 election tool

 

If President Joe Biden keeps his promise to sign a bill that could ban TikTok over its ties to the Chinese government, he may rob his reelection campaign of a platform that he and fellow Democrats rely on to reach younger voters, Paralel.Az reports citing Reuters.

Biden's campaign got thousands of "likes" on Tuesday for a TikTok video skewering Republican rival Donald Trump about cutting Social Security spending. But the comments were focused on another issue altogether: the proposed ban.

"Good thing we saw this on TikTok," said one. "How are you going to use this to campaign if you ban it?" asked another.

House Republicans voted Wednesday to force TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app in six months, or face a ban, in the greatest threat to the app since the Trump administration. If the Senate passes the bill, as the White House urges, Biden has pledged to sign it.

The 2024 election on Nov. 5 is shaping up to be close, and Democratic-leaning U.S. political discourse online has shifted to TikTok in recent years, political strategists said, noting that X, formerly Twitter, has cut back on harassment curbs under owner Elon Musk. Facebook, meanwhile, hasmoved away, opens new tab from political content, while the short-form video site is the platform of choice for a new generation of politically engaged Americans.

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