Donald Trump, during his presidential reign, has tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but his efforts were nullified by the court.
New Delhi: Former American President Donald Trump joined TikTok, an app he tried to ban as the president. The Republican presidential candidate garnered over a million followers within hours of joining the short video social media platform owned by China-based tech giant ByteDance.
The decision to join TikTok is Trump’s attempt to win over the younger voters in his third bid for the White House. He is up against the current President of the US, Joe Biden. The presidential election will happen on November 5.
Trump uploaded a launch video on his account on Saturday night, “Trump greeting people at an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Newark, New Jersey”.
Joe Biden is already on TikTok even though he has signed a bill supporting the ban of the app.
Attempts To Ban TikTok In US
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is challenging in the court that requires it to sell TikTok by next January or face a ban. The White House is adamant on ending the Chinese ownership of the app. However, the government wants the app to remain functional in the US.
TikTok has argued that it has taken measures to safeguard the privacy of its users from the Chinese Government.
Donald Trump, during his presidential reign, tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but his efforts were nullified by the court. He criticized the platform, calling it a ‘National Threat’ in March of this year. However, this time he was at ease with the existence of the app as he said that banning it would hurt some young people and will strengthen the dominance of Meta.
Donald Trump has a strong social media presence with more than 87 million followers on X and 24.5 M followers on Instagram.
TikTok Already Banned In India
India banned TikTok long way back in 2020 alongside 100 plus other Chinese apps. India cited “national security” as a major concern while banning these apps.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s order stated that the apps were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state, and public order.