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By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
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White House national security spokesperson John Kirby could not answer questions on Monday about why the Biden campaign joined TikTok amid wider governmental concerns about the platform's security and intent.
The campaign formally joined the globally influential Chinese-owned social media platform over the weekend, with President Joe Biden answering various questions in a series of rapid-fire responses as part of the campaign's first official video.
TikTok, owned by the tech company ByteDance, has been one of few issues that has galvanized Congress for a variety of reasons. One is the platform's impact—along with other wide-used networks like Facebook and X, formerly Twitter—on people of a certain age, as legislators from both the Senate and House have raised alarms on social media's pervasive effects on younger generations, notably in the form of depleted mental health.
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The other major concern has been national security, due to the app's affiliation with China and questions of whether data being provided by U.S. users is providing arguably the United States' biggest adversary with an upper hand in terms of intelligence and long-term political power.
Kirby was asked by the White House Press Corps on Monday why the Biden campaign joined TikTok when national security concerns and potential implications have been relayed for quite some time.
"I'd have to refer you to the campaign for that," Kirby repeatedly about the decision, refusing to speak on behalf of the administration.
He was asked the same question by another reporter who inquired about some conversation having had taken place regarding security concerns and the U.S. president being broadcast over the platform's airwaves.
"Again, I cannot speak nor will I speak for the campaign," Kirby said. "I can't [speak to] that or their decisions. Nothing's changed about the national security concerns from the NSC's perspective about the use of TikTok on government devices. That policy is still in place."
Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign via email for comment.
Former President Donald Trump's is not on TikTok, as the Republican presidential front-runner has used his own Truth Social platform to communicate online.
Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, commented on Sunday that the Biden campaign's decision to purportedly reach out to younger voters must be a "joke."
"The President of the United States just joined a Chinese spy app and is encouraging Americans to follow him on said spy app," Crenshaw wrote on X. "Please tell me this is a joke."
Last March, bipartisan politicians grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about the platform's intentions in terms of providing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with data that could potentially be beneficial in a long-term battle for world supremacy. Legislators also inquired about cultural influences being espoused on the app.
But Chew brushed off the criticism by saying that the CCP wouldn't be provided users' data, and he suggested storing data in an American company if it allowed the app to function as usual.
Shortly following that congressional hearing, TikTok touted its reach in the U.S. by issuing a press release thanking the 150 million Americans who had installed the app.
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