Biden Defies Own TikTok Ban

Something amusing happened to Joe Biden on the way to the political grandstand.

The president, who signed legislation forcing a sale or banning the social media platform TikTok, took to that very platform to post videos soon thereafter.

And of course, users of the platform took note of it all.

The White House said it will keep using TikTok “for now:”

The videos it posts often feature Biden himself — even as his own White House has said that it has “legitimate national security concerns with respect to data integrity” on the app.

Either those concerns were overblown, or they were as performative as much else that emanates from the capitol city. As Techdirt’s Mike Masnick wrote:

…all this really does is highlight the problematic hypocrisy in this decision. It remains an attack on the open internet, which the Biden administration used to pretend to support, and now has lost any moral authority to claim it now supports.

If there were legitimate concerns about privacy and security, then pass an actual law about privacy. If there are concerns about propaganda, then suck it up and recognize that in a free country that believes in free speech, we have always had to deal with propaganda, and the best way to deal with it is through educating the public, perhaps by using TikTok.

That could be for the courts to decide. In the meantime, expect assorted pols who went the full Helen Lovejoy route and voted to rid us of the TikTok menace to keep posting there.

Because that’s where the (older) children who can vote are these days. Along with their friends who can vote, too. 

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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Norman Leahy has written about national and Virginia politics for more than 30 years with outlets ranging from The Washington Post to BearingDrift.com. A consulting writer, editor, recovering think tank executive and campaign operative, Norman lives in Virginia.

Picture of Norman Leahy

Norman Leahy

Norman Leahy has written about national and Virginia politics for more than 30 years with outlets ranging from The Washington Post to BearingDrift.com. A consulting writer, editor, recovering think tank executive and campaign operative, Norman lives in Virginia.

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