trump warmed up to tiktok During an election year, the security of the beloved app was promised. One of TikTok's biggest investors, billionaire Jeff Yass, was one of Trump's biggest donors. He also used it to his advantage: Over the summer, Trump joined TikTok and collaborated with millions of followers and popular streamers, who played a big role in his campaign's appeal to young voters. Many of his podcast appearances with the likes of Joe Rogan, The Nail Boys, and Andrew Schultz are also clipped and shared in short pieces throughout the app.
According to the latest data shared by the company, more than 170 million Americans use TikTok. Only 32 percent of Americans support TikTok ban, According to a recent Pew surveyWhen a similar study was conducted in May 2023, 50 percent of Americans supported it.
Trump's inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20, the day after the deadline to give TikTok more time to find a buyer. I'm willing to bet that Biden will decide to escalate this, making TikTok's future a problem for Trump, but the current president has given no indication of what he might do. The White House did not respond to WIRED's request for comment.
Although Trump may have won TikTok this cycle, Democrats don't see the app as a lost cause. In fact, Democratic strategists I've spoken to have argued that a presence on the app is more essential than ever.
“I am against the ban. “Not only will this hurt us young voters, but it will eliminate the channel where Democrats can compete to get their message across,” says Ryan Davis, co-founder and chief operating officer of People First, a political is an influencer and relational marketing firm that it has partnered with. Biden and Harris campaigns. “Trump may have won TikTok in 2024, but this is a channel on which Democrats should be highly competitive demographically.”
I really have no idea whether TikTok will come out on top this week. When oral arguments were presented in September, The judges didn't seem too sold On the idea that the law, well, illegalMore likely, we'll still be stuck in limbo, not knowing whether or not we'll be able to scroll and view important and groundbreaking content. Like this,
chat rooms
What do you think? Is there still reason to believe that TikTok is a threat to US national security? Even if this is true, is this bill the best way to protect US users of the app from foreign surveillance? Personally, I have always thought that law is useless. If the Chinese government really wants my data, they can easily do so Buy it online from a dubious broker,
Send your thoughts here mail@wired.com,
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What else are we reading
Six hours under martial law in Seoul, The Verge editor Sarah Jeong found herself in the middle of history during a trip to Seoul this week. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, she saw protests against martial law…incredibly violent. (The Verge)
How the Supreme Court's transgender care case could resonate in health care, Arguments were heard in the Supreme Court United States vs. Skrametti On Wednesday it could determine the future of trans health care in America. It could also impact other health care issues, such as abortion rights. (state)
Professor apologizes for using fake AI-generated quotes to defend Minnesota's unconstitutional deepfake law, Minnesota is on the verge of adopting a new law outlawing deepfakes, and one of the state's key witnesses was caught using the same tools to defend the rules. The hypocrisy is quite hilarious, but the chatbot has also completely nailed down some of the cited research. ,Techdirt)
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on this week Wired Politics Lab PodcastLeah spoke with WIRED security and investigations editor Andrew Coutts and business editor Lewis Matsakis about protecting yourself from government surveillance. There are lots of useful tips there, go listen.
It was a big week for big interviews at WIRED! check out coverage From our event in San Francisco this week. And don't miss Steven Levy's killer interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook Our YouTube channel here,
as well as, One thing Our polarized nation can agree on this.
That's all for today—thanks again for subscribing. you can contact me via email, Instagram, xAnd signal on McKenkelly.32.