Biden’s TikTok ‘lol hey guys’ debut sparks concerns, White House says ‘nothing has changed’

In a ‘lol hey guys’ captioned video, Joe Biden made his TikTok debut and this isn’t going too well among his own team, as a Democratic Senator said he’s “concerned about the national security implications of Chinese-owned TikTok and the Biden campaign decision to join”.

Reuters reports on Democratic Senator Mark Warner’s concerns: “I think that we still need to find a way to follow India, which has prohibited TikTok. I'm a little worried about a mixed message”.

The “mixed message” is, of course, mentioned because Joe Biden signed legislation in 2022 blocking most federal government devices from using TikTok over homeland security concerns.

Hundreds of millions of people in the US – many of whom are young and just entering the wonderful world of being able to vote – are not preoccupied with such concerns and use TikTok all the time. Last month, TikTok told Congress that 170 million Americans now use the short video app, up from 150 million a year earlier.

That’s exactly why Biden’s TikTok appearance in an election year is not accidental – the TikTok demographic is seen as potential voters, so corners have to be cut. Mr Biden's TikTok account will not be run by the president himself, but by his campaign team, aides told US media, but that’s hardly a surprise, given recent press conferences of the POTUS.

The heat on Biden’s TikTok debut is not coming solely from the left, but from the right, too: the report states that a number of Republican lawmakers have also criticized the campaign's decision to join TikTok, citing national security grounds.

The Biden campaign now has more than 57,000 followers on TikTok. The Biden campaign said Sunday it was taking "advanced safety precautions around our devices and incorporating a sophisticated security protocol to ensure security" as it works to court young voters who use the app.

Meanwhile, the Big House is not preoccupied with this. White House spokesperson John Kirby said “nothing's changed about the national security concerns, from the (National Security Council) perspective, about the use of TikTok on government devices. That policy is still in place”.