Did Kamala Harris just confirm she won’t ban TikTok?
The potential new Democratic candidate for presidency, Kamala Harris, suggests that TikTok is going nowhere with her latest move.
TikTok’s place in the United States has seemed fragile in recent years. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok from US app stores. Ever since, it has been a battle between legislators and the app to keep it present in the country.
Kamala Harris’ latest move seems to confirm that a presidency under her would pose no threat to TikTok. The new potential Democratic candidate for this year’s US presidential elections has joined TikTok herself. Harris says: “I’ve heard that recently I’ve been on the For You page, so I thought I would get on here myself.”
Whilst Harris has expressed concerns over TikTok’s place in the United States’ national security, the Biden administration for which she was Vice President confirmed there was “no intention to ban TikTok”.
Despite that, TikTok’s future is in question as a bill signed by President Biden demands that TikTok divests their app from Chinese owners ByteDance or it will be blocked. President Biden was using TikTok himself as a tool in his election campaign when he was still running.
The likely Republican candidate, Donald Trump, previously expressed intentions to ban TikTok during his presidency. More recently, he has criticised attempts to ban it, stating that it would enhance Facebook-owner Meta’s power over social media. Trump now uses the app himself, with 3.6 million followers.
So, whilst a current law puts TikTok’s place in the US under an existential threat, the two likely candidates for presidency seem to embrace the app. However, Harris is yet to state whether she would overturn the bill to ban TikTok if ByteDance doesn’t divest its ownership.
Trump hasn’t confirmed if his presidency would overturn the bill, but says: “I’m for TIkTok because you need competition. If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram.”