Wade Herring didn’t know the teenage voter who approached him at a restaurant over the weekend. But she knew Herring, a Democrat running for Congress in Georgia, from his campaign videos on TikTok.
To Herring, a 63-year-old Savannah attorney, it was proof of TikTok’s precision-guided ability to reach young voters — the very reason why he and candidates from both parties have eagerly embraced the platform ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“A year and a half ago, I thought it was just dancing videos,” Herring said of TikTok. Young voters, he added, “aren’t watching CNN, or MSNBC or Fox. They’re getting their information on TikTok, and for better or worse, it’s the way to reach them.”
For a number of government officials, it’s worse.
TikTok’s popularity has surged despite worries from policy makers in Washington about TikTok’s handling of user data and misinformation, as well as its ties to China’s government. Those fears prompted the U.S. armed forces to prohibit the app on military devices and spurred calls to ban it on all government computers and phones as well.
“I have serious concerns about the opportunities that the Chinese communist party has to access TikTok’s data on American users,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said at a hearing this month focused on the national security implications of social media.
Still, its reach is undeniable. TikTok is consumed by two-thirds of American teens, a number that has risen as other platforms have lost popularity. It’s the world’s most downloaded app, and the second-most visited website after Google. And it’s not just about viral dance challenges anymore, but also a place to shop, learn about beauty, fashion or sports, and even find out how to register to vote.
The benefits of using the platform are simply too great to pass up even with concerns about TikTok as a conduit for misinformation or exploiting privacy.
“People are going to use it. It’s a highly effective tool,” said Colton Hess, who created Tok the Vote, a 2020 voter registration and engagement effort that reached tens of millions of young voters. “As long as that’s the game in play, you have to be in the arena.”
AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato
TikTok is owned by ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese company that moved to new headquarters in Singapore in 2020. Questions about the company’s ties to the Chinese government have hounded TikTok even as its popularity exploded.
At the Senate hearing earlier this month, members of both parties questioned a TikTok executive about the influence of government officials in China and whether that country’s authoritarian leaders have control over the platform’s data and content.
TikTok Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas, based in Los Angeles, said the company protects all data from American users and that Chinese government officials have no access to it.
“We will never share data, period,” Pappas said.
TikTok also says it works to stop the flow of harmful misinformation and has created an election center to help users find information about U.S. elections, voting and candidates.
The platform’s defenders also note that TikTok isn’t the only site criticized for failing to stop misinformation. Its rivals — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube — face their own challenges regarding data privacy too.
A report released this month from New York University faulted all four of those platforms plus TikTok for amplifying former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. The study cited inconsistent rules regarding misinformation as well as poor enforcement.
“While TikTok has these very strong sounding policies, the enforcement is extremely erratic,” said Paul Barrett, the professor and researcher who led the study.
Another study this month by NewsGuard, a firm that monitors online misinformation, found that nearly 1 in 5 TikTok videos about key news events contained misinformation. The videos focused on topics like COVID-19, the 2020 election, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
TikTok’s ties to China set it apart from other platforms, according to Geoffrey Cain, a senior fellow at the Lincoln Network, a conservative-leaning think tank that studies technology policy. The country’s leaders have shown a willingness to spread disinformation that undermines the West, he said, and it would be foolish to think they haven’t tried to enlist TikTok in this work.
“This is not the Cold War where we had hardware, where we had missiles pointed at each other,” Cain said. “Now we have smart phones.”
TikTok is not available in China. Instead, the platform’s parent company offers a similar platform that has the same dance videos, but also promotes educational content about math and science, experts told lawmakers at the recent Senate hearing. Another difference: The Chinese version limits 13- and 14-year-old users to 40 minutes a day. No such limits are included in the U.S. version, which prohibits users under 13.
Concerned about China’s influence over TikTok, the Trump administration in 2020 threatened to ban the app within the U.S. and pressured ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S. company. U.S. officials and the company are now in talks over a possible agreement that would resolve American security concerns.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., helped write the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act when he served in the House, and he supports new regulations for data collection and marketing to children that he says will make platforms like TikTok safer.
He’s not waiting for those changes to happen before using the platform, however. Markey emerged as an unlikely TikTok sensation in 2020 when his videos were credited with helping him defeat a primary challenge from former Rep. Joe Kennedy.
“I feel lucky to join them online in pursuit of a better future and a livable planet,” Markey said of young voters, who he said are especially concerned about climate change and other environmental challenges.
While the right video can reach hundreds of thousands or even millions of viewers, TikTok also works in reverse, giving politicians and advocacy groups a window into the concerns of millions of young Americans whose political influence will only grow, according to Ellen Sciales, director of communications for the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led organization that works to address climate change.
“It’s young people talking to other young people. It’s meeting them where they’re at,” said Sciales, 25.
Younger voters will judge candidates based on their stances on issues instead of whether they’re on TikTok or not, Sciales said, adding that those who stay off the platform are missing out on a powerful tool for organizing and communicating with voters.
It’s a gamble some lawmakers say they’re not willing to take.
“I would have a great deal of caution about TikTok at this point,” Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said in July. “I would not have TikTok on any of my devices.”
-
TikTok politics: Candidates turn to it ‘for better or worse’
AP
Midterm elections are usually miserable for the party in power. But Democrats hope one of their biggest losses in memory may ultimately salvage 2022 for them.
Ever since the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right for a woman to obtain an abortion, Democrats have seen a boost in donations, polling and performance in special elections for open congressional seats. The latest came Tuesday in a Hudson Valley swing district that, in a Republican wave year, should have been an easy GOP win. Instead, Democratic Ulster County executive Pat Ryan (pictured) defeated his Republican counterpart from Duchess County, Marc Molinaro.
The stakes, governing-wise, were small — the seat will disappear in the fall as a new congressional map goes into effect. But because the race became a referendum on abortion after the high court's ruling, the political implications are huge. It comes after a ballot measure to ban the procedure was crushed in solidly conservative Kansas.
Republicans were anticipating a typical midterm landslide, with inflation high and President Joe Biden's approval rating low. It may still end up a solid GOP year, but Ryan's win is the latest indication that Democrats don't have to abandon hope.
AP
Midterm elections are usually miserable for the party in power. But Democrats hope one of their biggest losses in memory may ultimately salvage 2022 for them.
Ever since the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right for a woman to obtain an abortion, Democrats have seen a boost in donations, polling and performance in special elections for open congressional seats. The latest came Tuesday in a Hudson Valley swing district that, in a Republican wave year, should have been an easy GOP win. Instead, Democratic Ulster County executive Pat Ryan (pictured) defeated his Republican counterpart from Duchess County, Marc Molinaro.
The stakes, governing-wise, were small — the seat will disappear in the fall as a new congressional map goes into effect. But because the race became a referendum on abortion after the high court's ruling, the political implications are huge. It comes after a ballot measure to ban the procedure was crushed in solidly conservative Kansas.
Republicans were anticipating a typical midterm landslide, with inflation high and President Joe Biden's approval rating low. It may still end up a solid GOP year, but Ryan's win is the latest indication that Democrats don't have to abandon hope.
-
TikTok politics: Candidates turn to it ‘for better or worse’
AP
One Florida politician wasn't facing a primary challenge on Tuesday but made sure to dominate the news anyway — Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis is considered former President Donald Trump's top rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, partly due to the way he's leaned into political and cultural divides in the Sunshine State. On Tuesday he demonstrated why.
The governor began the day with a Cabinet meeting, which included the only Democrat elected statewide in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. She was competing for her party's nomination to face DeSantis that evening.
DeSantis shook Fried's hand as the meeting concluded and told her "good luck" before criticizing her campaign and predicting — accurately, it turned out — her loss in brief remarks to reporters.
"I think that you know she had an opportunity as being the only Democrat elected statewide to exercise some leadership and maybe get some things done and instead she's used her time to try and smear me on a daily basis, that's all she does," DeSantis said of Fried.
After polls closed in the evening, DeSantis grabbed the spotlight again, speaking to a crowd in Miami. "We're not going to let this state be overrun by woke ideology, we will fight the woke in the business, we will fight the woke in government agencies, we will fight the woke in our schools," DeSantis said. "We will never, ever surrender to the woke agenda. Florida is the state where woke goes to die."
Expect to hear a lot more like that from DeSantis in the months — and possibly years — ahead.
AP
One Florida politician wasn't facing a primary challenge on Tuesday but made sure to dominate the news anyway — Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis is considered former President Donald Trump's top rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, partly due to the way he's leaned into political and cultural divides in the Sunshine State. On Tuesday he demonstrated why.
The governor began the day with a Cabinet meeting, which included the only Democrat elected statewide in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. She was competing for her party's nomination to face DeSantis that evening.
DeSantis shook Fried's hand as the meeting concluded and told her "good luck" before criticizing her campaign and predicting — accurately, it turned out — her loss in brief remarks to reporters.
"I think that you know she had an opportunity as being the only Democrat elected statewide to exercise some leadership and maybe get some things done and instead she's used her time to try and smear me on a daily basis, that's all she does," DeSantis said of Fried.
After polls closed in the evening, DeSantis grabbed the spotlight again, speaking to a crowd in Miami. "We're not going to let this state be overrun by woke ideology, we will fight the woke in the business, we will fight the woke in government agencies, we will fight the woke in our schools," DeSantis said. "We will never, ever surrender to the woke agenda. Florida is the state where woke goes to die."
Expect to hear a lot more like that from DeSantis in the months — and possibly years — ahead.
-
-
TikTok politics: Candidates turn to it ‘for better or worse’
AP
Florida and New York, which held primary elections Tuesday, were two of the states whose legislative maps were most radically redrawn this year to favor one political party. It was part of a centuries-old political gambit known as gerrymandering.
But Tuesday night showed two different sides of gerrymandering. The New York map that Democrats redrew to ruthlessly target vulnerable Republicans got tossed out by the state's highest court as an illegal partisan act.
The map was redrawn to be more balanced, disregarding the political fortunes of some of New York's most prominent members of Congress and lumping several high-profile lawmakers in the same district in a push for equity. Ignoring scattered protests that its April ruling came too late in the process to change the map, the high court moved the state's congressional primary to Tuesday, two months after its June primary for state offices.
That's why New York's Democratic primaries Tuesday were so fractious and chaotic.
In contrast, Florida's Republican-appointed State Supreme Court declined to change the partisan map that DeSantis pushed the Republican-controlled Florida legislature to approve. Unlike the New York court, the Florida court declined to mess with the map close to the election.
As a result, Florida's incumbent House members generally stayed put Tuesday night, not forced into any career-ending primary battles because of districts being moved. The great exception was Rep. Charlie Crist, who ran for — and won — the Democratic nomination for governor partly because DeSantis' map transformed his district into a solidly Republican one. The new map also effectively eliminated two seats, currently represented in Washington by Black Democrats, where African Americans comprise the largest share of voters.
Nationally, both parties tried to gerrymander during the past redistricting cycle, but Democrats were reined in slightly more than Republicans — largely due to Florida and New York. Florida's top court may change that in the coming years when it rules on challenges to DeSantis' maps.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering multiple cases that could change the ability of courts to redistrict gerrymanders. That may help determine whether we see more congressional primaries like New York's, or more like Florida's.
About the photo: Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks during his election night victory party in the Democratic primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in New York. Nadler won in New York's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary against Attorney Suraj Patel and Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
AP
Florida and New York, which held primary elections Tuesday, were two of the states whose legislative maps were most radically redrawn this year to favor one political party. It was part of a centuries-old political gambit known as gerrymandering.
But Tuesday night showed two different sides of gerrymandering. The New York map that Democrats redrew to ruthlessly target vulnerable Republicans got tossed out by the state's highest court as an illegal partisan act.
The map was redrawn to be more balanced, disregarding the political fortunes of some of New York's most prominent members of Congress and lumping several high-profile lawmakers in the same district in a push for equity. Ignoring scattered protests that its April ruling came too late in the process to change the map, the high court moved the state's congressional primary to Tuesday, two months after its June primary for state offices.
That's why New York's Democratic primaries Tuesday were so fractious and chaotic.
In contrast, Florida's Republican-appointed State Supreme Court declined to change the partisan map that DeSantis pushed the Republican-controlled Florida legislature to approve. Unlike the New York court, the Florida court declined to mess with the map close to the election.
As a result, Florida's incumbent House members generally stayed put Tuesday night, not forced into any career-ending primary battles because of districts being moved. The great exception was Rep. Charlie Crist, who ran for — and won — the Democratic nomination for governor partly because DeSantis' map transformed his district into a solidly Republican one. The new map also effectively eliminated two seats, currently represented in Washington by Black Democrats, where African Americans comprise the largest share of voters.
Nationally, both parties tried to gerrymander during the past redistricting cycle, but Democrats were reined in slightly more than Republicans — largely due to Florida and New York. Florida's top court may change that in the coming years when it rules on challenges to DeSantis' maps.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering multiple cases that could change the ability of courts to redistrict gerrymanders. That may help determine whether we see more congressional primaries like New York's, or more like Florida's.
About the photo: Rep. Jerry Nadler speaks during his election night victory party in the Democratic primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in New York. Nadler won in New York's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary against Attorney Suraj Patel and Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
-
TikTok politics: Candidates turn to it ‘for better or worse’
AP
It's been muted by the spectacle of Trump's makeover of the GOP, but Democrats also spent the primary season torn over the direction of their party.
Left-wing contenders continued to mount primary challenges to centrist Democrats. The left lost its most prominent bids to dislodge incumbent House members in south Texas and Cleveland.
Two new losses came Tuesday, when a liberal state senator was crushed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (pictured) in a congressional primary north of New York City. And attorney Dan Goldman, who worked on Trump's first impeachment, narrowly beat a bevy of more progressive rivals in a primary for a congressional seat centered in Brooklyn.
But the left has won some victories this primary season, nabbing a nomination for a House seat in Pennsylvania and seeing one of its favorite politicians, that state's Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, win the party's nomination for Senate.
Neither side has been crushed, so expect more left-on-center primaries next election cycle.
AP
It's been muted by the spectacle of Trump's makeover of the GOP, but Democrats also spent the primary season torn over the direction of their party.
Left-wing contenders continued to mount primary challenges to centrist Democrats. The left lost its most prominent bids to dislodge incumbent House members in south Texas and Cleveland.
Two new losses came Tuesday, when a liberal state senator was crushed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (pictured) in a congressional primary north of New York City. And attorney Dan Goldman, who worked on Trump's first impeachment, narrowly beat a bevy of more progressive rivals in a primary for a congressional seat centered in Brooklyn.
But the left has won some victories this primary season, nabbing a nomination for a House seat in Pennsylvania and seeing one of its favorite politicians, that state's Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, win the party's nomination for Senate.
Neither side has been crushed, so expect more left-on-center primaries next election cycle.
-
-
TikTok politics: Candidates turn to it ‘for better or worse’
AP file
Trump set out to demonstrate his dominance of the GOP this primary season, and he succeeded — to a point.
His approval helped set the party's Senate field and was pivotal in a number of hotly contested primaries. He claimed his biggest prize last week, when his chosen candidate beat Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming's Republican primary. On Tuesday, Trump's chosen candidate, Air Force veteran and conservative activist Anna Luna, won her primary in an open GOP-leaning seat on Florida's Gulf Coast.
But Trump had some huge humiliations — especially when he tried to intervene in governor's races in Idaho, Nebraska and especially Georgia, where Trump failed to oust Gov. Brian Kemp for refusing to overturn the 2020 election in his state and award it to Trump.
Even more significantly, Trump elevated candidates who may not be able to win competitive races — or may even pose a threat to democracy itself. Last week, the GOP's Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, warned that his party may not win a Senate majority due to "candidate quality" among its nominees. They include Trump-backed candidates struggling in swing states, like Herschel Walker in Georgia, JD Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.
Others, like the GOP's nominees for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano, and Arizona governor, Kari Lake, have denied that Trump lost the 2020 election, raising questions about whether they'd certify the actual winners of future elections if they take over their statehouses.
Trump does not always have to intercede for extreme candidates who have mimicked his style to rise in Republican primaries. On Tuesday, Laura Loomer, a conservative provocateur who's been banned from several social media websites for posting anti-Muslim remarks, surprised many with a strong — albeit unsuccessful — showing in a primary challenge to 73-year-old Florida Rep. Daniel Webster.
Still, Trump's effect on the GOP became immeasurable this primary season.
AP file
Trump set out to demonstrate his dominance of the GOP this primary season, and he succeeded — to a point.
His approval helped set the party's Senate field and was pivotal in a number of hotly contested primaries. He claimed his biggest prize last week, when his chosen candidate beat Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming's Republican primary. On Tuesday, Trump's chosen candidate, Air Force veteran and conservative activist Anna Luna, won her primary in an open GOP-leaning seat on Florida's Gulf Coast.
But Trump had some huge humiliations — especially when he tried to intervene in governor's races in Idaho, Nebraska and especially Georgia, where Trump failed to oust Gov. Brian Kemp for refusing to overturn the 2020 election in his state and award it to Trump.
Even more significantly, Trump elevated candidates who may not be able to win competitive races — or may even pose a threat to democracy itself. Last week, the GOP's Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, warned that his party may not win a Senate majority due to "candidate quality" among its nominees. They include Trump-backed candidates struggling in swing states, like Herschel Walker in Georgia, JD Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.
Others, like the GOP's nominees for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano, and Arizona governor, Kari Lake, have denied that Trump lost the 2020 election, raising questions about whether they'd certify the actual winners of future elections if they take over their statehouses.
Trump does not always have to intercede for extreme candidates who have mimicked his style to rise in Republican primaries. On Tuesday, Laura Loomer, a conservative provocateur who's been banned from several social media websites for posting anti-Muslim remarks, surprised many with a strong — albeit unsuccessful — showing in a primary challenge to 73-year-old Florida Rep. Daniel Webster.
Still, Trump's effect on the GOP became immeasurable this primary season.
