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Biden’s campaign joins TikTok in push for young voters

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US PRESIDENT Joseph R. Biden’s reelection campaign joined short-form video app TikTok on Sunday, using the National Football League’s Super Bowl to kick off its new account to reach young voters ahead of the presidenti­al election in November.

The campaign’s launch on TikTok is notable given that the app, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is under review in the US for potential national security concerns. Some US lawmakers have long called for the app to be banned over concerns that the

Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app. Last year, the Biden administra­tion ordered government agencies to remove TikTok from federal government­owned phones and devices. TikTok has maintained that it would not share US user data with the Chinese government and has taken substantia­l measures to protect the privacy of its users. The company did not immediatel­y respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Biden campaign advisors said in a statement it would “continue meeting voters where they are,” including on other social media apps like Meta Platform’s Instagram and Truth Social, which is owned by former US President Donald Trump.

The campaign is taking “advanced safety precaution­s” for its devices and its presence on TikTok was separate from the app’s ongoing security review, a campaign official added.

Mr. Trump, the Republican frontrunne­r in the presidenti­al race, does not have an official account on TikTok.

The video posted by the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account made light of a fringe conservati­ve conspiracy theory that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs, in order for pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to announce an endorsemen­t of Mr. Biden.

Amid rapid-fire questions asking the president to choose from one of two options, Mr. Biden was asked if he was “deviously plotting to rig the season so the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl” or whether the Chiefs were simply just a good football team.

“I’d get in trouble if I told you,” Mr. Biden joked.

By Sunday night, the account had gained 10,900 followers.

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