海角大神

U.S. President Joe Biden鈥檚 reelection campaign joined short-form video app TikTok on Feb. 11, using the NFL鈥檚 Super Bowl to kick off its new account to reach young voters ahead of the presidential election in November.

Similarly inclined, on Feb. 12, Britain鈥檚 Olympics team signed a sponsorship deal with TikTok to help grow its athletes鈥� online influence as strict Olympic rules on digital advertising are set to be loosened for this year鈥檚 Games in Paris.

President Biden鈥檚 campaign said in a statement it would 鈥渃ontinue meeting voters where they are,鈥� including on other social media apps like Meta Platforms鈥� Instagram and Truth Social, which is owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, does not have an official account on TikTok.

Announcing the British Olympian deal on Feb. 12, Team Great Britain and Paralympics Great Britain said having TikTok as an official partner would help their athletes to connect with new audiences and grow their fanbase.聽Team Great Britain Commercial Director Tim Ellerton said he saw 鈥渁 valuable opportunity to introduce a new generation to the magic of the Olympic Games.鈥�

Last year, President Biden鈥檚 administration ordered government agencies to聽remove TikTok聽from federal government-owned phones and devices.聽TikTok has maintained that it would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy of its users. The campaign is taking 鈥渁dvanced safety precautions鈥� for its devices and its presence on TikTok was separate from the app鈥檚 ongoing security review, a campaign official added.聽

TikTok was banned from British government phones in March last year over the same security concerns. TikTok at the time said bans like this were 鈥渂ased on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics.鈥�

Under the Great Britain deal, TikTok will produce content following British Olympians in Paris and athletes will also feature in an advertising campaign across television, billboards, audio, and paid social media posts.聽The partnership comes as the International Olympic Committee plans to relax rules governing online advertising during the Olympics this year in a 鈥減ilot project鈥� with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.

The video posted by the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account made light of a fringe conservative conspiracy theory that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs, in order for pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to announce an endorsement of President Biden.聽Amid rapid-fire questions asking the president to choose from one of two options, President Biden was asked if he was 鈥渄eviously plotting to rig the season so the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl鈥� or whether the Chiefs were simply just a good football team.

鈥淚鈥檇 get in trouble if I told you,鈥� President Biden joked.

By night on Feb. 11, the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account had gained 10,900 followers.

This story was reported by Reuters and includes reporting by Helen Reid.