Political content creators have not hesitated to use the TikTok social media app despite President Donald Trump’s executive order that could ban the app. In fact, the application ban, according to some creators, may have the accidental result of motivating other young people to vote in November.
TikTok has millions of young users and creators, some of whom have rotated their content in the app for the November elections. TikTok was not designed as a particular platform for political discourse, however, it has become a center for other young people to communicate about politics and get involved. In June, users sold tickets to the presidential rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the goal of not running, resulting in less than expected turnout.
“I think there’s no better way to get Generation Z to go to the polls than to ban TikTok,” said Colton Hess, who founded the TikTok ToktheVote account to inspire other young people to vote. “I think there may be interaction between young people and other people because it’s a cultural sensation.”
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The Trump administration may ban TikTok if it is sold through its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, within forty-five days of Trump’s August 6 executive order, as ordered. Management wonders if ByteDance is gathering knowledge from Americans.
TikTok’s author Leo Scheck, 22, said he believed the risk of a ban was intended to control an organization of others who actively damaged the president’s re-election campaign.
“Social media wants privacy reform, but the current administration doesn’t seem to be looking for it,” Scheck said. “This is a fragile president who cannot take over the criticism, who tries to silence dissent about an application he thinks of being foreign.”
The TikTok ban may be revoked if sold to a U.S. company within forty-five days. So far, Microsoft has expressed interest and would allow the app to continue to work in the United States, and Twitter would be in conversations about a possible acquisition.
Erynn Chambers, a popular designer on TikTok with nearly a share of a million subscribers, said the order could be published through Trump.
“I think Trump has this as a way to address his madness where he’ll draw attention to safe things, or make a great demonstration of safe things, and then he’ll give them back,” Chambers said.
Although no politician has an official presence in TikTok, teens collaborate on political content under the Republican and Democratic hype house. Named after a collective of Content Creators in Los Angeles, advertising houses are content centers for liberals and conservatives.
Joy P., a self-proclaimed 19-year-old conservative designer and a contributor to Republican Hype House, said of the ban: “This is a valid explanation of why other chinese people in the Chinese government for Americans.”
Joy, who asked for anonymity due to security concerns, said that if the app was banned, they would simply move their content to other platforms.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a 15-year-old author of Democratic Hype House, said the possible ban would involve more young people in politics.
“This can motivate the young electorate in a never-before-motivated electorate,” Kohn-Murphy said.
Historically, young Americans have been less committed to voting than their elders, yet the great success of social media has replaced the game. About 28% of 18- to-29-year-olds voted in the 2018 mid-term elections, marking the participation of mid-term youth in two decades, according to estimates from the Center for Information and Research on Learning and Civic Participation at Tufts University.
“Not only are we seeing greater young people’s participation in campaigns, marches and demonstrations, but we are also seeing more young people creating awareness among other young people,” said Kristian Lundberg, a research associate at CIRCLE. “TikTok is, in many ways, a resource for other young people to listen to content created through other young people.”
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When asked where they had heard about the 2020 election, 29% of other people over 18 to 21 cited TikTok, according to a CIRCLE review conducted between May and June.
TikTok has about 30 million exclusive users per month, with a quarter of its adult users under the age of 24, according to Comscore data.
Popular TikTok creators whose accounts are not primarily political will use their platform to comment on policy. Jeremy Scheck, a 20-year-old Cornell University student and younger brother of Leo, has 1 million fans in his TikTok account, which focuses on food and cooking. But he speaks for voter registration and Black Lives Matter.
“I like to include it in a video and take a moment like, “Hey, if you have time to cook, you have time to do it,” Scheck said.
If the TikTok ban becomes a reality, other young people will simply look for other platforms to express their political opinions, said Brent Cohen, ceo of Generation Progress Action at the Center for American Progress.
“I think other young people are incredibly witty, resilient and will find other tactics to spread their speeches and can convey smart messages,” Cohen said.