U.S. President Joe Biden belatedly joined TikTok on Sunday, marking his debut on the social media platform with a 26-second video.
The move comes after fierce US government criticism of the video-sharing platform in recent years, most notably from Republicans but also from the Biden administration.
The campaign’s launch on TikTok is notable given that the app, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is under review in the U.S. for potential national security concerns. Some U.S. lawmakers have long called for the app to be banned over concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app.
Last year, the Biden administration ordered government agencies to remove TikTok from federal government-owned phones and devices.
TikTok has maintained that it would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy of its users.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Biden campaign advisors said in a statement it would “continue meeting voters where they are,” including on other social media apps like Meta Platform’s Instagram and Truth Social, which is owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The campaign is taking “advanced safety precautions” for its devices and its presence on TikTok was separate from the app’s ongoing security review, a campaign official added.
Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, does not have an official account on TikTok.
The video posted by the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account made light of a fringe conservative conspiracy theory that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs, in order for pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to announce an endorsement of Biden.
