Looks like Biden and TikTok are going to keep squabbling right up to the inauguration
The White House and the social media company have continued to snipe at each other through what is now the final weekend of Biden's presidency.
Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesOperating with the laser focus and firm eye on priorities that we’ve come to expect from this administration, it’s looking increasingly likely that some of the very final statements from the Joe Biden White House, the final pieces of the historical record that will solidify its lasting legacy in American history, are going to be about fucking TikTok, of all things. The U.S. government and the Chinese-owned video sharing platform have continued to snipe at each other throughout the last weekend of Biden’s presidency, with outgoing press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeling the social media company’s plans to go dark on Sunday, January 19—the day enforcement of the law banning the company’s operations in America goes into effect—a “stunt.” TikTok’s policy account on Twitter/X has then fired back, saying that the government’s admittedly wishy-washy verbal commitments to not make this a whole thing (basically, tacitly promising not to enforce the law, because who would want this to suck up your last gasps of political air, right?) isn’t good enough, so it’s big blackout tantrum time.
Biden signed the law (which targets tech companies owned by companies in countries deemed a “foreign adversary” of the United States) back in April of 2024, and god knows if he realized at the time what setting its enforcement measures to kick in a day before the next inauguration was going to do, headache-wise, to his January of 2025. Among other things, many commentators have pointed out that the whole thing gives the incoming Trump administration an easy Day One lay-up to score popular support by delaying enforcement, something Trump has said he’s currently considering. The upshot, as far as we can tell, is that the final full day of Biden’s presidency is going to be overshadowed by TikTok saying it was “forced” to shut down, only for The Next Guy to step into power and turn back on the dancing meme videos with a wave of his hands. Which, in a way, actually feels pretty damn apt: It just wouldn’t feel like we were saying goodbye without one more unforced error for the road, huh?