Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has alleged that President Biden is driving efforts to ban TikTok in the United States. He has cautioned voters to hold Biden responsible if the ban is implemented. The bill proposing the TikTok prohibition has been approved by the House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate. Biden has indicated that he would sign the bill into law if it passes that chamber.
TikTok has maintained its stance that it does not share American user data with China and has asserted that a ban would infringe upon the First Amendment rights of its 170 million US users. Nonetheless, the White House has stated its preference for TikTok to be owned by a US company to ensure the protection of sensitive data and to mitigate possible manipulation by China.
Recently, Trump has argued that a TikTok ban would bolster Meta Platforms’ Facebook, which he has been critical of since his access was revoked following the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot. His account was later reinstated in 2022.
In a contrasting move, Biden’s re-election campaign has joined TikTok, while Trump’s campaign has not.
