The Biden administration has enlisted the help of a Chinese company, that was banned by the Department of Defense, to aid in a voting assistance program for the upcoming 2022 midterm elections. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, which was founded in 2012 by Chinese billionaire Zhang Yiming. In 2019 the Defense Department Cyber Awareness Message identified "TikTok as having potential security risks associated with its use," according to the message. The guidance directed all Defense Department employees to "be wary of applications you download, monitor your phones for unusual and unsolicited texts etc., and delete them immediately and uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information." "It is considered a cyber threat," Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa said. In 2020, President Trump signed an executive order that would have essentially banned the use of TikTok in America. This order was swiftly dropped by Biden in June of 2021. Biden has now joined a partnership with this cyber threat to help launch assistance to Americans in upcoming elections.

sovren.media