President Joe Biden’s use of the social network TikTok for campaigning caused a stir on Monday, with the right noting that this same application is banned on the professional devices of members of the government.
TikTok, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, has been accused by a large number of American politicians of being a propaganda and espionage tool for the Chinese government, which the company categorically denies.
“From a national security perspective, there are still concerns regarding the use of TikTok on federal government devices,” confirmed John Kirby, one of the White House spokespersons, on Monday.
“This did not prevent the Biden campaign from joining this dangerous Chinese Communist Party propaganda application,” criticized Republican Senator Joni Ernst on X (formerly Twitter).
“Nothing like giving the Chinese Communist Party access to all the data of a presidential campaign. Open door to interference operations!” criticized the conservative elected representative in the House of Representatives Mike Waltz.
The American president’s campaign team, which is trying to reach young voters, used the Super Bowl, the final of the American football championship, on Sunday to launch on TikTok with a message with a rather humorous tone.
“The president’s arrival on TikTok last night – with more than 5 million views, so far – illustrates both our commitment, and our success, when it comes to finding innovative ways to reach voters in a changing media environment, fragmented and ever more individualized,” Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, commented in a press release.
In the video published on the @bidenhq account, with the title “lol hey guys”, the 81-year-old Democratic president, hands in his pockets and in rather casual attire, lends himself to a light question-and-answer session mixing sport and politics.
Asked if there was a secret plot to rig the match so that pop star Taylor Swift – whose boyfriend Travis Kelce is a Kansas City Chiefs player – could then use her fame to support Joe Biden, the latter responded with example, in a joking tone: “I’d get in trouble if I told you.”
