The reelection campaign for President Joe Biden has marked its social media expansion with the introduction of an official TikTok account named “@bidenhq,” whose launch coincided with China’s Lunar New Year festivities and the United States’ Super Bowl 58 on Sunday evening. This strategic move comes despite the prevalent ban on the use of TikTok on most U.S. government-issued devices.
Speculation and response from TikTok remain withheld, as the video-sharing platform has not provided comments following inquiries.
The establishment of the President’s TikTok presence unfolds against a backdrop of heightened legislative actions taken in late 2022, which saw President Biden enact laws that largely prohibit TikTok on federal government equipment. This action came packaged within a substantial spending bill which, at the time, signaled considerable progress for congressional members wary of China’s influence.
In concordance with these federal measures, various states and the municipal government of New York City have likewise precluded the app’s use on state-owned devices, citing an assortment of security risks as their rationale.
While TikTok is managed by ByteDance, a conglomerate headquartered in China, its corporate leadership stretches globally with CEO Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean national and an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
The narrative further complicates with Susquehanna International Group, a notable investor in TikTok, whose billionaire co-founding partner, Jeffrey Yass, has reportedly donated substantial funds to political figures opposing a comprehensive ban of the application within the United States.
