As the election approaches, the platform provides an outlet for young voters.
Washington, United:
US President Joe Biden belatedly joined TikTok on Sunday, making his debut on the social media platform with a 26-second video.
The move follows harsh criticism of the video-sharing platform from the U.S. government in recent years, most notably from Republicans but also from the Biden administration.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and has been accused by numerous U.S. politicians of being a propaganda tool used by Beijing, which the company vehemently denies.
In a video posted to the @bidenhq campaign account on Sunday, the 81-year-old Democratic president spoke with ease about topics ranging from politics to the NFL championship game.
When asked whether he preferred the Super Bowl or this year’s famous halftime show, headlined by singer Usher, he opted to watch the actual game itself.
When asked if there was a secret conspiracy to rig the game so that pop star Taylor Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, could use her fame to support Biden, the president jokingly leaned Baseless right-wing conspiracy theory.
“If I told you, I would be in trouble,” he said.
Many state and federal governments have banned the app’s use on official government devices, citing security concerns.
In Montana, a state move to ban the app outright was recently blocked by a judge.
While the platform remains under scrutiny in Washington, further federal action to ban or restrict use of the app no longer appears to be in effect.
“It now appears that the idea behind a ban was promoted more as a political point than as a serious legislative effort,” civil liberties lawyer David Green recently told the Guardian.
As the election approaches, the platform provides an outlet for young voters.
At the end of Sunday’s video, the president was asked who he prefers: himself or Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
“Are you kidding me?” He laughed. “Biden.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
