From US to Pakistan, how TikTok takes centre stage for 2024 political campaigns

Joe Biden’s campaign has joined TikTok. The campaign has joined the popular social media platform in order to court America’s youth ahead of this year’s polls. The development comes in the backdrop of Biden as well as several high profile lawmakers raising national security concerns around the app from China’s government. The US president had also banned the app from federal devices. Though Biden is not likely to join TikTok, the move does shine the spotlight on just how vital TikTok has become as a campaign platform around the world. Let’s take a closer look: United States The Biden campaign launched its account during Sunday’s Super Bowl. According to the BBC, the first post put up by @bidenhq captioned “lol hey guys” featured the president being quizzed on the Super Bowl — and included a reference to the latest political conspiracy theory surrounding music superstar Taylor Swift. Asked if he wanted Kansas City Chiefs or the San Francisco 49ers, to win Biden said he’d prefer the Philadelphia Eagles. He said this is because “my wife’s a Philly girl” and “I’d be sleeping alone” elsewise. On the Taylor Swift conspiracy theory, Biden quipped, “I’d get in trouble if I told you.”

According to Politico, the post has already received six million views.

The account will be run entirely by the campaign team in an effort to reach voters in an ever-fragmented American population, particularly as younger voters gravitate away from traditional platforms. Biden also badly needs young voters. Last time, the youth vote catapulted him to the White House. But now, with the war in Gaza raging, many young people are turning on Biden for being too staunchly Israel. According to BBC, some polls even show that young people prefer Trump over Biden. Democratic strategist Michael Starr Hopkins told the outlet that Democrats really have no choice about using TikTok despite security concerns. “You’ve got to meet voters where they are. If they’re using it, they’re using it, and we can’t afford to be at a disadvantage if Republicans are utilising it,” Hopkins, who previously worked on campaigns Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton said. TikTok is a wildly popular platform – particularly among the youth. [caption id=“attachment_13676402” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] 170 million Americans now use TikTok.[/caption] As per The Guardian, 170 million Americans now use the app. That’s over half the country’s population. The trouble with TikTok, of course, is that it is owned by ByteDance. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that the Chinese Communist Party could get data such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers from the company. A law implemented by China in 2017 requires companies to give the government any personal data relevant to the country’s national security. There’s no evidence that TikTok has turned over such data, but fears abound due to the vast amount of user data it, like other social media companies, collects. Biden in 2022 banned the use of TikTok by the federal government’s nearly four million employees on devices owned by its agencies, with limited exceptions for law enforcement, national security and security research purposes. The secretive and powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has been reviewing the app for years. Despite this, Biden’s campaign said the account would be posting content regularly on the platform. Biden’s campaign maintains a presence on Meta’s Threads, Instagram, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and Truth Social, the platform backed by Republican front-runner Donald Trump. The president’s campaign has been prioritizing social media engagements, as well as smaller events featuring the president, to reach target voters who they believe don’t tune in to traditional outlets. The campaign and the White House have also stepped up outreach to social media influencers who they believe can amplify the president’s message. Campaign officials said they were taking advanced security precautions and incorporating security protocols to ensure safety, but they did not detail the measures — or provide information on whether the measures were meant to protect campaign data or voters’. Mark Jablonowski, president and chief technology officer at the digital firm DSPolitical, told Politico Biden’s team has seemingly got it right on TikTok. “The last thing any campaign should do is use TikTok for posting sterile, boring content,” Jablonowski added. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, Biden’s presumptive rival for the White House, has tangled with ByteDance as well. According to The Economist, Trump in 2020 to ban on TikTok, demanded that its owner sell it to a US firm and even accused Beijing of spying on TikTok users. Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, does not have an official account on TikTok. [caption id=“attachment_13699432” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Donald Trump had called for a ban on TikTok in 2020. Reuters[/caption] However, he still has a hefty presence on the app. The Economist piece noted that #donaldtrump2024 has racked up an incredible 445 million views on the app, as opposed to just 22 million for #joebiden2024. Experts say neither presidential campaign can afford to take the youth vote for granted. Kyle Tharp, author of political newsletter FWIW, told BBC that young voters “will make or break this election this time around.” Pakistan  The recently concluded Pakistan polls threw up a surprise after Independents backed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaaf sprung a surprise by winning 97 of the 265 available seats. Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) got 76 seats, while the Pakistan People’s Party netted 54 seats. The showing of the PTI, which defied a months-long crackdown that crippled campaigning and forced candidates to run as Independents in Thursday’s vote, left observers flummoxed. The party had been disallowed its symbol of a cricket bat and its leader put behind bars after a crackdown by the powerful military. TV channels are prohibited from mentioning Imran’s name or showing video clips of him, and the party was barred from holding in-person rallies. The PTI responded by redefining election campaigning in Pakistan with its social media “rallies” and use of artificial intelligence technology. Its social media pages have millions of followers and Imran remains the only leader to have accounts on all these platforms. Meanwhile, PTI media staff took the party’s election campaign online, holding YouTube and TikTok “rallies” – despite authorities regularly blocking internet access when they did so. [caption id=“attachment_13716032” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A supporter of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan kisses the portrait of his leader during a protest against the delaying result of parliamentary election by Pakistan election commission, in Karachi. Khan-backed indepedents secured the most seat in the polls. AP[/caption] Ramsha Jahangir, a technology journalist, told AFP, “They have apps, they have online speeches, they’ve done a Tiktok jalsa (gathering) which is unprecedented, at least in Pakistan, so they have a way of innovating and it’s always been the case.” “Facing censorship, PTI are at the forefront of finding alternative ways to reach their supporters and propagate their message. These sure-footed strategies are led by educated, globally placed supporters,” Jahangir further told Al Jazeera.

Jahangir said that technology is “writing a new playbook.”

“We have seen PTI make politics more accessible through virtual jalsas, AI audios, and chatbots. This has not only helped them circumvent censorship but also engage youth, including those who are from rural or periurban parts of the country,” Jahangir added. The strategy is widely credited with earning independent candidates loyal to PTI the youth vote, contributing significantly to their success. “When you have over 60 percent voters in the age bracket of 18 to 45, you have to look at ways to engage them. This is why we have such active presence on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and why we have so far held two TikTok events, attended by millions of people,”Jibran Ilyas of the PTI added. On Saturday, the party released an AI-generated video of Imran claiming victory in the country’s election. “I congratulate you all on winning the 2024 elections. I strongly believed in you all, that you would go out to vote,” Imran is credited as saying in the AI video shared early Saturday on his X profile – the fourth his party has produced. Imran’s physical appearance is from a genuine video clip recorded last year, but his voice and speech are artificially generated. As per Al Jazeera, the PML-N and PPP, meanwhile, stuck to the more traditional forms of campaigning. Marriyum Aurangzeb, information secretary of the PMLN, said digital space was simply another element of the campaign “Our campaign messaging frame was assisted by AI-based active social listening across the entirety of the digital media landscape. This gave us extremely valuable data insights that helped us build a highly impactful campaign,” Aurangzeb told the website. “We delivered a tailored message, microtargeting a said section of the voters, instead of mass distribution of generalised messages across the board,” the former minister added. Indonesia Indonesia, which is set to go the polls tomorrow, has seen TikTok take centre stage for all three candidates – defence minister Prabowo Subianto, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. The video-sharing platform has 125 million users in Indonesia, second only to the US. The candidates have been posting videos on TikTok in which they can be seen dancing and also answering questions in real-time during livestreamed sessions. At an Indonesian presidential campaign event, 22-year-old voter Irene Putri Aisyah was busy uploading everything she saw, from cute dances to cooking demonstrations, to the short video app. Subianto, a once-feared military man, has rebranded himself as a cuddly statesman. Videos of his awkward dance moves, reminiscent of local martial arts, have got millions of views, inspiring others to mimic him. As per The Guardian, candidates are distributing K-pop tickets and populating their social media feeds with photos and videos of cats and viral dancing. Aisah Putri Budiatri, a political researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency, told The Guardian, “All candidates are actively utilising social media platforms, notably TikTok and Instagram, which predominantly attract young voters. This scenario contrasts with past elections, where campaign strategies tended to be more conventional.” It seems to be working on some voters. “They’re very cute and fun and it makes Subianto look humble,” Tete, 19, a first-time voter from Wonosobo in Central Java, told The Guardian. [caption id=“attachment_13720042” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto greets supporters during his campaign rally in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. AP[/caption] When the frontrunner faced stinging barbs from rivals in a televised debate, women supporters shared videos of themselves crying for Prabowo. Rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo have also ramped up their presence on the app, answering questions in real-time during livestreamed sessions or sharing videos of heartfelt encounters with voters. “TikTok is the most appealing app for first-time voters, so it does have a big influence as a platform to campaign and propagate election-related information,” said Anita Wahid, a researcher who has worked with TikTok on issues related to online trust and safety. During the campaign period, TikTok became Indonesians’ second-most used source of information on politics, after television, according to a January survey by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia.

“We can easily find information about Prabowo on TikTok,” voter Irene said.

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But experts have flagged that some of this information may be incorrect. Endah Triastuti, a communications researcher at the University of Indonesia, says that because of such content, many young voters may not be aware that Prabowo has been forced to deny allegations of human rights abuses during his time as special forces commander. Manipulated images and ‘deepfake’ videos of the candidates have also circulated widely. Young voters prefer to see candidates create fun content, which explains the app’s enduring appeal and success in this election, said researcher Anita Wahid.

“This is a new battle.”

Taiwan  The Taiwan polls, which concluded in January, saw the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) win an unprecedented third consecutive term. The development of  Lai’s party, which champions Taiwan’s separate identity and rejects Beijing’s territorial claims, came much to China’s chagrin. Beijing  had labelled the DPP leader a ’troublemaker’ and a dangerous separatist. Taiwan, like the US, has imposed a ban on TikTok for public sector devices.

Around 35 per cent of Taiwanese use TikTok regularly, as per Sunday Live Guardian.

Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), a rival of Lai, had looked to the platform in hopes of garnering support from the youth, as per Bloomberg. Ko had posted himself doing dance routines and even made a rap video. His TikTok account had over 168,000 followers — many of them young voters. Lai, meanwhile, had no presence on the platform though his supporters often posted videos of him on it. Candidates that China had opposed had faced a torrent of disinformation ahead of the polls. Bloomberg quoted TikTok as saying it took down 767,078 videos in Taiwan for content violations. It also busted an operation pushing pro-China narratives. [caption id=“attachment_13635022” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, left, celebrates his victory with running mate Bi-khim Hsiao in Taipei, Taiwan, on 13 January, 2024. AP[/caption] On TikTok, one Chinese hashtag mocking Lai got more than 8.5 million views, and the responses to posts and videos against the DPP were replete with derogatory comments and conspiracy theories. “She’s a foreigner,” commented one TikTok user on a video featuring DPP opponents loudly claiming Lai’s running mate Hsiao Bi-khim was secretly a US citizen – and thus ineligible. Hsiao has repeatedly said she gave up her US citizenship years ago, and AFP found her name on a US government list of people who have renounced their nationality. Experts say it illustrates a Beijing-linked push to use disinformation or partially true claims to discredit any politicians who do not accept Taiwan as a part of China. Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan in recent years, but analysts say it is also attempting to sway public opinion away from pro-independence views. “(China-led) information campaigns are sustained, systematic and produce huge volumes of misinformation – anything to discredit… the legitimacy of Taiwan’s democracy,” Jonathan Sullivan of the University of Nottingham, told AFP. “Taiwan faces an extremely well-resourced and motivated rival for ‘hearts and minds’.” An AFP Fact-Check investigation found four anti-DPP videos that first appeared on Douyin, followed by multiple clones on TikTok with hundreds of thousands of views. One video featuring footage of people criticising Lai over a railway project appeared on Douyin on December 19 and then landed on TikTok the same day, timestamps collected by AFP showed. Another indication that the videos first appeared on Douyin is the use of simplified Chinese characters in captions. While mainland China uses those characters, Taiwan uses the traditional script. The videos were viewed by a far larger audience on TikTok. One got nearly 20 times more views on the platform than Douyin, according to AFP Fact Check. “These messages and videos often come from China, and most of the content is about distrust of some government policies,” Charles Yeh, founder of the fact-checking group MyGoPen, told AFP. Beijing had dismissed the allegations as “rumours and hype”.

With inputs from agencies