Biden's Urgency and Hypocrisy... Creating TikTok Account for Election Promotion Despite Previous Ban Requests

President Biden Launches TikTok Account Ahead of Super Bowl
Usage Banned on Government Devices...Criticism Spreads

U.S. President Joe Biden (81), who is seeking re-election, has started using the short-form video platform 'TikTok,' mainly popular among Generation Z, to overcome the so-called 'age controversy.' However, he is facing backlash, being accused of hypocrisy. This is because the use of TikTok by federal government employees is banned due to concerns that sensitive information could leak to ByteDance, the Chinese IT company that owns TikTok. On the 12th (local time), U.S. economic media CNBC reported, "President Biden's campaign has launched an official TikTok account, but the TikTok app is still banned in most government agencies."

[Image source=Captured from President Biden's TikTok account]

On the 11th, when the NFL Super Bowl was held, Biden's campaign opened the president's TikTok account 'bidenhq' and released a 27-second video featuring a balance game related to American football. In the video, when asked to "choose the NFL championship team," Biden humorously picked the 'Philadelphia Eagles,' the team based in his birthplace Philadelphia, instead of the teams that made it to the finals. Biden's alter ego, 'Dark Brandon,' also appeared in the video?a superhero character shooting red laser beams from his eyes. As of the 14th, the video had garnered over 8.1 million views, spreading widely.

However, behind the video's popularity lies significant criticism of President Biden. TikTok is suspected of collecting personal information from Americans and manipulating algorithms to conduct propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party. In response, the Biden administration banned federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices in March last year, yet TikTok has been summoned for his own election campaign. Facing heavy attacks from the Trump campaign over his age and cognitive ability controversies, which have hurt his approval ratings, Biden is being criticized for using a platform that is subject to regulation.

[Image source=Captured from President Biden's TikTok account]

Mark Gallagher, a Republican member and chairman of the U.S. House China Task Force, criticized, "National security is far more important than persuading 18-year-olds to vote for you," adding, "We have discussed banning TikTok for the government." Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi also stated, "I do not have a TikTok account, and I do not think it is wise to use TikTok on personal devices." Mark Warner, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "I am somewhat concerned about the mixed messages from the Biden administration."

However, John Kirby, White House National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications, drew a line under criticism of government policy, saying, "TikTok use on federal government devices is banned, and nothing has changed in the policy." White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "We cannot comment on TikTok election campaign issues," adding, "We recommend contacting the campaign for election-related matters, and there is no change in federal government policy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.