The Biden administration and Biden-affiliated political action committees are spending millions for access to prominent TikTok influencers. In exchange, these influencers create content on TikTok with a pro-Biden message, based on suggested talking points from the White House. So where does that money go? Because TikTok [doesn't allow political ads](https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/global/bc-policy/en#:~:text=political%20content%20%2D%20all%20political%20or%20issue%2Dbased%20advertising%20is%20prohibited%3A) on its platform. Congruent to the White House's courtship of TikTok influencers, President Biden signed a bill into law that gives ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, nine months to divest its ownership in the app. If ByteDance does not comply, the US Government can ban TikTok for Americans. ## Collection Entries (In progress...) [[Timeline— Biden's New Media]] ## Required Reading Relevant news articles in chronological order. 10-18-2020 • Sophia Smith Galer • BBC [Anti-Trump TikTokkers not declaring paid content](https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54555798) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2020.10.19-150331/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-54555798) 10-27-2022 • Taylor Lorenz • Washington Post [Inside Democrats’ elaborate attempt to woo TikTok influencers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/tiktok-democrats-influencers-biden/) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2023.04.30-165647/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/tiktok-democrats-influencers-biden/) 04-09-23 • Sophia Cai • Axios [Biden's digital strategy: an army of influencers](https://www.axios.com/2023/04/09/bidens-digital-strategy-an-army-of-influencers) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2023.04.09-165744/https://www.axios.com/2023/04/09/bidens-digital-strategy-an-army-of-influencers) 05-31-2023 • Andrew Rice • New York Mag [How TikTok Beat the Ban (for Now)](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/tiktok-ban-us-congress.html) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2023.05.31-233421/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/tiktok-ban-us-congress.html) 09-27-23 • Elena Schneider • Politico [The Biden campaign now wants to go viral](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/27/the-biden-campaign-now-wants-to-go-viral-00118344) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2023.09.28-015242/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/27/the-biden-campaign-now-wants-to-go-viral-00118344) 01-23-24 • Rebecca Kern • Politico [Seeing a viral pro-Biden TikTok? A PAC might have paid for it.](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/23/biden-campaign-social-media-influencers-00136389) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2024.01.30-082804/https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/23/biden-campaign-social-media-influencers-00136389) 04-23-24 • Ken Klippenstein • The Intercept [As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers](https://theintercept.com/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-influencers-biden-campaign/) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2024.05.26-053741/https://theintercept.com/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-influencers-biden-campaign/) 06-13-24 • Taylor Lorenz • Washington Post [Gen Z influencers who supported Biden in 2020 turn against him](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/06/13/influencers-biden-tiktok-ban/) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/ij5rq) 06-14-24 • Ken Bensinger • NYT [Joe Biden Wants to Go Viral. It’s Not Easy.](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/us/politics/joe-biden-donald-trump-2024-campaign-tiktok.html) [(Archive)](https://archive.ph/2024.06.22-131550/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/us/politics/joe-biden-donald-trump-2024-campaign-tiktok.html) 06-22-24 • Tina Sfondeles • WBEZ Chicago [In bid for young voters, Democrats offer social media influencers access to August convention](https://www.wbez.org/government-politics/dnc-2024/2024/06/22/democratic-national-convention-social-social-media-influencers-young-voters) ## Other Sources [Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics](https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp) [These Are “Not” Political Ads](https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/tiktok-political-ads/): *How Partisan Influencers Are Evading TikTok’s Weak Political Ad Policies* (Mozilla Study) [DNCC Creator Credentials](https://demconvention.com/creators/): *The 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee is opening a credential request process designed to enable content creators to experience and capture a political convention like never before* [TikTok's Branded Content Policy](https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/global/bc-policy/en#:~:text=political%20content%20%2D%20all%20political%20or%20issue%2Dbased%20advertising%20is%20prohibited%3A) [Social Media Influencers and the 2020 U.S. Election: Paying ‘Regular People’ for Digital Campaign Communication](https://mediaengagement.org/research/social-media-influencers-and-the-2020-election/) [ATTN: lands deal with TikTok to produce social good videos](https://www.axios.com/2021/04/21/attn-tiktok-social-good-videos)