TikTok ban would be ‘a slap in the face’ to young Democratic voters, activists warn
In the nation’s capital, the debate over banning TikTok has largely focused on whether the app’s Chinese parent company poses a security threat to Americans.
But behind closed doors, Democrats are also being forced to weigh whether blocking the popular video platform could come with heavy political costs.
In 2020, Aidan Kohn-Murphy used TikTok to rally support for Joe Biden. Now, he’s trying to use the platform to stop Biden from killing it.
“I’m not defending TikTok as a company, I’m defending my entire generation,” said the 19-year-old Harvard freshman who, as a high-schooler during the 2020 campaign founded a group called TikTok for Biden. It has since changed its name to Gen Z for Change and formally incorporated as a political nonprofit and, according to Kohn-Murphy, it now includes 500 creators with a combined 500 million followers on multiple platforms.
“If they went ahead with banning TikTok, it would feel like a slap in the face to a lot of young Americans,” he said. “Democrats don’t understand the political consequences this would have.” [Continue reading…]