UPDATE 1-Donald Trump Joins TikTok and Quickly Gains One Million Followers

Shortly after joining TikTok, ex-President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump quickly gained a million followers on Sunday. This comes after Trump attempted to ban the social media platform during his presidency, citing national security concerns. The move to join TikTok is seen as a way for Trump to connect with younger voters as he pursues his third White House bid against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election.

Despite Biden’s campaign already being on TikTok, the current president has signed a bill that could potentially ban the app if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not divest from it. Trump’s TikTok account, @realdonaldtrump, posted a launch video featuring Trump meeting fans at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in New Jersey. The Trump campaign did not provide immediate comment on this development.

ByteDance is currently challenging a law that requires it to sell TikTok by January 2023 or face a ban, citing national security reasons. TikTok has insisted that it does not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has implemented measures to safeguard user privacy.

Trump’s previous attempt to ban TikTok in 2020 was thwarted by the courts. He has expressed concerns about the app’s national security implications, but also acknowledged that a ban could negatively impact young users and potentially benefit Facebook’s Meta Platforms, a company he has criticized in the past. Trump maintains a strong social media presence with over 87 million followers on X and more than 7 million followers on his own platform, Truth Social, where he frequently posts updates.

A U.S. appeals court recently set a fast-track schedule to address legal challenges related to the TikTok ban. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia scheduled oral arguments for September after TikTok, ByteDance, and a group of content creators on the platform petitioned for a speedy resolution.