The United States is about to enter a white-hot stage, and the candidates of both parties, Biden and Trump, are competing fiercely on various platforms. One notable platform is TikTok, a short-form app run by a Chinese company that has more than 100 million users in the United States, mostly young people.
TikTok's development in the United States has not been smooth, it has been threatened by Trump, and it has also been questioned and investigated by Congress. In particular, in January of this year, the U.S. Senate held a hearing on "Big Tech Companies and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis," and TikTok President Zhou Shouzi was also summoned to attend. At the hearing, some Republican senators raised sharp questions about Zhou's nationality and political leanings, trying to link TikTok to China and make excuses for it.
This incident also reflects the Republican Party's fear and hostility towards TikTok, which they believe is a Chinese spy tool, a threat to the United States and values, and an object that must be eliminated.
However, in this context, Biden's campaign team made an unexpected move, they officially opened a TikTok account named "Bidenhp" on April 11, and released the first **. , Biden appeared in person, and when asked if he would vote for himself or Trump, he replied contemptuously: "Are you kidding? Then he cast his vote for himself.
This move has sparked attention and discussion among all parties, why did Biden choose to run on TikTok? Does this mean that his attitude towards TikTok is different from that of Trump and the Republican Party?
Biden's move has two implications:
One is to win the support of young voters. Social networking is the main way for young people to communicate and express themselves, and TikTok is the best social networking in the United States, with the largest number of young users and the highest engagement. Biden's campaign is clearly aware of this, and they hope to increase their willingness and inclination to vote by posting fun and relatable ** on TikTok to attract the attention and goodwill of young people. It's a pragmatic strategy, and it's an effective one. In fact, not only Biden, but also a number of other politicians and organizations are active on TikTok, such as US Senator Bernie Sanders, US Congressman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, US Democratic National Committee, and many others. They are all using TikTok's influence to spread their political ideas and campaign messages in hopes of winning more support among young people.
The second is to make clear its own stance on China policy. The presence of Biden's campaign on TikTok is also a signal to the outside world, suggesting that Biden's attitude towards TikTok and China is different from that of Trump and the Republican Party. Biden's assistant for affairs Sullivan once said that Biden's China policy will be "cooperation in competition and competition in cooperation", which means that Biden will not adopt a comprehensive hostile and confrontational posture towards China like Trump, but will seek cooperation and dialogue with China in some areas and issues, such as climate change, epidemic prevention and control, nuclear non-proliferation, etc. Therefore, Biden's appearance on TikTok can also be seen as a gesture of goodwill to China, a counterattack to the Republican Party, and a declaration to the American public, he wants to tell everyone that he will not be like Trump to unreasonably **TikTok, but will respect the legitimate rights and interests of TikTok, protect the free choice of American users, and maintain the openness and pluralism of the United States.
It has to be said that Biden is a calculating politician who knows how to do the right thing at the right time, and he also knows how to use his strengths to make up for his weaknesses. Since Republicans are hostile to TikTok, they can't effectively use the platform for campaign campaigning, which leaves a huge amount of room for Biden. Biden's campaign is clearly not going to let go of this opportunity, and they will try to expand their influence on TikTok as much as possible to gain more supporters.
Of course, this is also a risky approach, which is bound to attract strong opposition and attacks from Republicans, and will also bring more political pressure to TikTok. The TikTok issue is actually a microcosm of the game between China and the United States, and Biden and Trump's attitude towards TikTok actually reflects their policy orientation towards China. For TikTok, this time the United States is also a battle of life and death, and its future will depend on the political direction of the United States and the direction of Sino-US relations. Therefore, TikTok cannot sit idly by, it must give full play to its platform advantages and help the party that is in its own interests. You know, the most powerful thing about TikTok is the recommendation algorithm, which can push the most appropriate content for users based on their preferences and behaviors, thereby influencing their opinions and decisions. If TikTok can use this algorithm to help the election, then Biden and the Democrats will have a much better chance of winning.
This is a big battle about Sino-US relations and the world pattern, and it is also a big battle about TikTok and social **, let's wait and see who can have the last laugh.