AMAC Exclusive – By Neil Banerji
Although it was almost entirely missed by the mainstream media, Joe Biden’s sudden embrace of TikTok – just in time for the 2024 election cycle – has left even some Democrats concerned. But the move is just the latest example of the president failing to adequately respond to the threat from China.
For the second year in a row this year, Biden passed on the traditional Super Bowl interview – typically a golden opportunity for sitting presidents to get in front of millions of Americans, particularly during an election year. Biden’s advisors insisted that they were “being more creative” and “relying less on formulas of the past,” and that the decision had nothing to do with the president’s health or ability to respond coherently to questions.
“Being more creative” apparently referred to Biden’s debut on TikTok, as the president’s 2024 campaign launched its official account on the Chinese social media app during the big game. The first video posted on the account, which has the username “@bidenhq,” was a 45-second clip of Biden talking about “shrinkflation” and was captioned “lol hey guys.”
The Biden campaign’s foray into TikTok is a clear if clumsy attempt to appeal to Millennial and Gen-Z voters, which make up a majority of the app’s user base. Polling shows that Biden is struggling with young voters, a key demographic for any Democrat candidate.
While making more of an effort to appeal to young voters on TikTok might be a smart political strategy (or maybe not, considering how cringe most of Biden’s clips are) it nonetheless sends a concerning message amid continuing concerns about the Chinese government using the app to spy on American citizens and potentially even foment societal unrest.
Back in 2022, Biden signed bipartisan legislation banning TikTok on most federal devices, and Biden’s own FBI and FCC have warned that TikTok parent company ByteDance is likely sharing American user data with the Chinese Communist Party.
Republicans were quick to slam Biden’s decision now to begin posting on the app, with Missouri Senator Josh Hawley writing on X, “Joe Biden is so desperate to do anything to help his sad reelection bid he’s willing to use a Chinese spy app his own government has outlawed.”
“It’s shameful that Biden is embracing TikTok to compensate for bad polls driven by his mental decline,” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton added. Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, urged Biden’s “Gen Z TikTok adult campaign staffers to reverse course in the interest of national security.”
Even some Democrats expressed concern about the move, with Virginia Senator Mark Warner, who supports a full ban of the app in the U.S., saying that he’s “a little worried about a mixed message.”
Along with data privacy concerns, analysis of TikTok’s algorithm has also shown that the app pushes harmful content to U.S. users, while Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, promotes mostly educational content to Chinese users, along with placing a time limit on daily use for kids. While certain Biden administration officials have emphasized these concerns and warned American users about the potential dangers of the app, the fact that Biden himself is now becoming more active on the platform sends the exact opposite message.
But TikTok is hardly the only Chinese-related threat that Biden has failed to address adequately.
Some of the most advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in the world are now also being developed in China, while the U.S. is falling behind in some areas. But rather than viewing AI as a critical area of competition with China, Biden has professed interesting in working with Beijing – a prospect which could mean handing over valuable U.S. tech secrets.
AI advancements in China have created more potential for devastating cyberattacks, something which FBI Director Christopher Wray has called “the defining threat of our generation.” In early February, Wray also said that China’s cyberattacks are reaching a “fever pitch,” and may be the precursor to more widespread attacks that could shut down utilities for vast swaths of the country.
Nonetheless, despite Beijing proving over and over that it cannot be trusted, Biden’s Director of Science and Technology Policy said in January that the White House was “trying to work” with Beijing on AI technology.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also expressed his desire to cooperate with the U.S. government on A.I.-related matters during his meeting with Biden last fall. In a similarly deceptive move, China joined the Bletchley Declaration, an international agreement signed by 28 different countries that addresses the collective risk of AI technology last November.
If the United States has learned any lessons from Beijing’s behavior in recent years, it is that Xi and the Chinese Communist Party are attempting to weaken and undermine the United States at every opportunity – whether it be through TikTok, AI, or any other area of strategic competition. Until Biden acknowledges this fact and adjusts his policies accordingly, U.S. national security will continue to be in jeopardy.
Neil Banerji is a proud Las Vegas resident, a research assistant, and a former student at the University of Oxford. In his spare time, he enjoys reading Winston Churchill and Edmund Burke.
