TikTok, Pinged, and Untagged: Does the White House Want to Delete “Kik Tokamak”? An Interaction Between Biden and the National Security Council

The campaign might not want the president to say the words “tikTok” or “ban” because they will be filmed. A lot of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok are young voters. Congress has criticized TikTok for years over the possibility that it could share US user data with the Chinese government. Voters have not been given any proof of the app’s national security risk. Instead, they’re asking people to trust the same institutions that have fallen out of favor with them over the past few years. Good luck with that!

Barely an hour after the Senate passed its TikTok bill Tuesday night, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign was posting new content to the platform. In a video that was posted at 10 pm, Biden smiles and waves to a group of people.

It doesn’t seem like the administration or campaign has plans for Biden to address it either. I spoke to the White House to ask if we could expect any from the president in the near future. I was directed by the National Security Council to Jake Sullivan’s statements at the White House press briefing. I also pinged the Biden campaign, and didn’t get a clear answer there either.

A Podcast for The TikTok Ultimatum Is Here. What Does It Mean? An Analysis with the WIRED Politics Lab

The user behind the X account told me over phone that it was probably smart to not center it, but that it would allow for some of the conspiracies to go undetected. It is probable that doing that would have affected the issue.

Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Tori Elliott is @Telliotter. Send your questions to [email protected]. Our show is produced by produced by Jake Harper. Jake Lummus is our studio engineer and Amar Lal mixed this episode. Chris Bannon is Global Head of Audio at Condé Nast and Jordan Bell is the Executive Producer of Audio Development.

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Source: The TikTok Ultimatum Is Here. What Does It Mean?

Introducing the National Security Package: What Happens When You’re Inside a New App? A Roundtable Discussion with the WIRED Politics Desk

The national security package that I just signed was passed by the Senate and House over the weekend.

We are going to discuss on the show how this new law affects politicians and the people who use the app. They are from the WIRED Politics desk in New York and they are joined by me. How are you doing now that the week is over?