(ConservativeSense.com) – President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign may experience more backlash than expected from younger voters for supporting a bill that would ban the social media app TikTok, which is more popular among the youth.
Just over a month after Biden’s campaign joined TikTok, the president said he would be willing to sign legislation that could lead to the app being banned in the US.
Annie Wu Henry, who worked for the campaign of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as a digital strategist, is raising doubts about Biden’s position on TikTok and how well that will fly among younger voters. She said she thinks the president’s re-election campaign will have to walk “a very fine line” so as not to turn those voters off. The 28-year-old campaign strategist noted that some of them may “find it hypocritical” that the president is using the app “as long as it’s there” while expressing agreement with plans in Congress to abolish it.
The bill made it through the House of Representatives in a vote of 352-65, gaining a large amount of bipartisan support. It will now move to the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, who will have a tough decision to make about whether or not to send it to the president’s desk when it could potentially impact his re-election.
If passed, the bill would force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to liquidate its ownership to non-Chinese owners within six months, otherwise, the social media app will be banned in the US.
Recent polls, such as from Pew Research, show that at least one-third of US adults under the age of 30 get their information and news from TikTok.
Henry said the app is popular amongst the youth because it creates a feeling of “community, intimacy, and authenticity.” She said Biden’s re-election campaign has an opportunity to “show that they’re listening and hearing” the public’s feedback on “all types of issues,” which includes how they feel about TikTok.
The ban comes in response to long-time allegations that TikTok poses a national security threat by providing US user data to the Chinese government, allegations that the company has pushed back on.
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