This is a surprise.
Former President Obama is set to use TikTok to encourage voter registration as part of a Democratic effort to engage around 30 million potential voters on National Voter Registration Day. Obama has participated in interviews with Carlos Espina, a 25-year-old TikTok influencer with 10.5 million followers. This initiative aims to reach younger voters, urging them to visit IWillVote.com to register and plan for Election Day. The Harris-Walz campaign is also targeting young voters with similar efforts online and on college campuses in key battleground states.
The push for voter registration comes amidst ongoing legal battles over TikTok. Recently, TikTok’s legal team argued in federal court against a potential U.S. ban on the app, which could be enforced in a few months. The U.S. government claims that TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, poses a national security risk due to its data collection practices and the possibility that sensitive information could be accessed by the Chinese government.
This legal dispute follows a measure signed by President Biden in April that demands TikTok sever ties with its Chinese parent company by mid-January or face losing access to the U.S. market. The legislation addresses concerns about TikTok’s data handling and the potential for manipulation of its content algorithm by Chinese authorities.
Former President Trump, who had previously raised concerns about TikTok, suggested that a ban could benefit Meta-owned Facebook, which he claimed had negatively impacted his 2020 re-election bid. Biden’s campaign initially joined TikTok in February with a Super Bowl-themed video, and after Biden ended his re-election campaign in July, Vice President Harris engaged with the platform directly, highlighting its significance in reaching younger audiences.
