(Reuters) – Republican governmental prospect Donald Trump has actually signed up with TikTok, the brief video social networks platform that is owned by China-based tech giant ByteDance which he attempted to prohibit as president, ahead of the U.S. elections in November.
Politico, which initially reported the news, stated he published a launch video on his account on Saturday night. The video revealed Trump welcoming fans at an Ultimate Combating Champion battle in Newark, New Jersey.
The account, President Donald J. Trump with the address @realdonaldtrump, had more than 450,000 fans by 0800 GMT.
ByteDance is challenging in courts a U.S. law that entered impact in April needing it to offer TikTok by next January or deal with a restriction. The White Home states it wishes to see Chinese-based ownership ended on nationwide security premises, however not a restriction on TikTok.
TikTok has actually argued that it will not share U.S. user information with the Chinese federal government which it has actually taken considerable procedures to safeguard the personal privacy of its users.
Trump’s effort to prohibit TikTok in 2020 when he was president was obstructed by the courts. He stated in March that the platform was a nationwide security hazard however likewise that a restriction on it would harm some youths and just reinforce Meta Platforms’ Facebook, which he has actually highly slammed.
President Joe Biden’s reelection project signed up with the app in February.
(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Modifying by Frances Kerry)