Trump on TikTok: Without it, many kids would go crazy
On March 11, local time, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump reiterated his opposition to the Biden administration’s efforts to ban the short video social platform TikTok, believing that it would only make Facebook, the “enemy of the people,” more powerful.
“Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok who love it. There are a ton of kids on TikTok who would go crazy without it. (TikTok) has a lot of users.”
Trump said in a phone interview with the US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) on the 11th.
In Trump’s view, TikTok has many benefits, but he still claims that TikTok poses a so-called “national security risk” to the United States;
“But what I don’t like is that without TikTok, Facebook will be stronger, and I think Facebook and a lot of media are the enemy of the people.”
“I’m not trying to double the size of Facebook. If you ban TikTok, Facebook and other companies — but mostly Facebook — will be the beneficiaries, and I think Facebook has been busy with that.”
Trump added, “I think Facebook is very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections.”
A committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last week requiring TikTok parent company ByteDance to divest TikTok business within 165 days. Otherwise, TikTok and other Bytedance applications will be banned from mobile app stores.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill on the 13th local time. U.S. President Biden has said he is willing to sign the bill if it is passed.
CNBC mentioned that Trump also tried to ban TikTok during his term, but ultimately failed.
The New York Times pointed out that Trump has twice issued executive orders consistent with the above-mentioned bill to prevent Apple and Google’s app stores from listing TikTok, but federal courts have repeatedly ruled to prevent Trump’s TikTok ban from taking effect. .
Trump has more than once blamed his shift in stance on his dissatisfaction with Facebook.
He posted on his self-created social platform Truth Social last Friday (8th) that if TikTok is “killed”, Facebook’s business will double, and he does not want to see this.
Trump was banned from Facebook the day after the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, and the ban was lifted early last year.
Faced with the possibility that the United States will push the ban bill again, TikTok pushed relevant news to its users and mobilized users to protest.
The phone number in the House of Representatives office was immediately “blasted” by TikTok users.
The Wall Street Journal analyzed that this phenomenon is considered to highlight TikTok’s influence on politics.
A person close to Trump said he expressed his opinion after seeing the reaction.
However, some people believe that Trump’s statement has different motives, including possible influence from billionaire Jeff Yass.
The latter is a major donor to the Republican Party and a major investor in TikTok.
Bannon, a former senior Trump campaign aide and former senior White House staffer, posted last week: “It’s simple: Yass currency.”
The Wall Street Journal said that as the election battle with Biden begins, Trump is reaching out to his donors for help.
On the other hand, when Trump was asked in an interview with CNBC on the 11th whether he was “bought” to change his view on TikTok after meeting with Yas, he denied it.
It’s unclear whether Trump’s shift in stance on the issue will weaken the bill’s broad base of support in the House.
According to the New York Times, Democratic strategist Geoff Garin analyzed that Trump’s change in stance on TikTok “puts House Republicans in a very embarrassing situation because it forces them to support Trump Choose between popularization and ‘confrontation with China’.”
In response to the US suppression and accusations, TikTok has repeatedly emphasized that the application does not and will not share US user data with China.
“The (U.S.) government is trying to strip away the constitutional right to free speech from 170 million Americans, which will harm millions of businesses, deprive artists of their audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”