OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
4:05 PM – Sunday, March 24, 2024
United States Vice President Kamala Harris avoided questions about why President Joe Biden’s campaign has a TikTok account and recommends people follow it, despite White House security concerns regarding the platform.
While Harris declared that the Biden administration “does not intend to ban TikTok,” the president has indicated that he would sign legislation that could lead to the ban.
A bill that would have required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the popular social media app or risk a possible ban in the U.S. was approved by the House earlier this month. Despite the Senate bill’s delays, Biden declared he would sign it into law if it reached his desk.
In an interview that aired on Sunday, ABC News’ Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott questioned Harris about why Biden’s reelection campaign keeps a TikTok account, given that the government has voiced concerns about the app’s potential impact on national security.
“So, let’s start with this: We do not intend to ban TikTok,” Harris told Scott on “This Week.”
“That is not at all the goal or the purpose of this conversation,” Harris said. “We need to deal with the owner and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok.”
The vice president continued, stating that the platform has “very important” benefits, such as generating revenue for a large number of users and “allowing people to share information in a free way.”
“It’s an income generator for many people, what it does in terms of allowing people to share information in a free way, in a way that allows people to have discourse. It’s very important,” Harris stated.
In an attempt to attract a wider audience of voters, especially younger ones, the Biden campaign joined TikTok recently and encouraged people to follow the account.
Even though the administration has frequently voiced worries about the app’s China-based owner, ByteDance, several videos featuring Biden and Harris have been uploaded to their TikTok account.
In the past, Biden has signed laws prohibiting TikTok from being used on federal government property. He has also expressed his support for the bill pending in Congress that aims to require TikTok’s parent firm to sell the app.
The White House voiced its desire for ByteDance from divest to ABC News last week.
According to TikTok, concerns about data and other security-related issues are unfounded. The platform also mentioned that user data from Americans is stored on American servers.
Additionally, in the interview, Scott challenged Harris about using TikTok to continue her campaign in light of “those national security concerns that you’re voicing.”
“Well, we’ll address that when we come to it,” Harris stated. “But right now we are concerned about the owner of TikTok and the national security implications.”
With over 170 million users in the U.S., TikTok has come under fire in Washington D.C., because of worries that the Chinese government would exploit the app to spread false information or obtain access to personal user data.
A bill that would stop the immensely popular app from being available on American web hosting providers and app stores unless TikTok severed its connection with ByteDance within 180 days was overwhelmingly adopted by the House.
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