- Minnesota State Senator
Matt Little has built a massive audience onTikTok with over 140,000 followers, even as more politicians grow wary of it. - Trump and other high-profile names on both sides of the aisle say the app's ownership by Chinese tech giant ByteDance raise national security and data privacy concerns.
- But Little told Politico Magazine that TikTok has been "singled out because it's been the younger generation's tool for
politics ." - He suggested that many politicians actually avoid TikTok because it values authenticity and said those who can't be themselves on the platform "are going to get roasted."
TikTok has blown up during the pandemic, both in popularity and as a hot-button political issue.
Last quarter, the viral video app crossed 2 billion downloads worldwide, according to SensorTower. It also invoked the wrath of President Donald Trump, who has thrown everything from social media and verbal attacks to unprecedented executive orders at the app in an effort to ban it from the US.
Other politicians on both sides of the aisle have raised the alarm as well, from Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. They claim the app's ownership by Chinese-based tech giant ByteDance gives Beijing a powerful tool for everything from spying on US government officials to manipulating American public opinion.
But for a handful of politicians, TikTok is providing something else: a direct, authentic connection to young voters.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of that tool has been previously little-known Minnesota State Senator Matt Little, who has amassed more than 143,000 followers since opening his account in February, according to a profile of Little published Friday in Politico Magazine.
Little, a member of the state's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, has racked up more than 2.6 million total views on his videos, which include a mix of self-deprecating digs at his status as a public figure, jokes, and a dash of his policy positions, almost always involving the lip-syncing or background tracks that have become staples of the app.
@littlesenator Choose your politician. RIP to my comments. ##fyp ##politics
♬ original sound - bmarsz
Little told Politico Magazine that he believes "TikTok's getting singled out because it's been the younger generation's tool for politics," noting that there are other popular apps owned by Chinese companies that don't get the same level of scrutiny.
TikTok's user base skews younger than other social media platforms, with 42% of US users falling between ages 18-24. And despite banning political ads beginning last fall, TikTok has become a hotbed of political activism for both Generation Z and millenials. NPR reported that videos with #blacklivesmatter hit 6 billion views in early June following the killing of George Floyd.
Another popular presence on the app is Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who has around 9,000 followers and has spawned a number of stan accounts. A spokesperson for Markey told Politico Magazine that TikTok has more work to do on data privacy, but appeared to brush off national security concerns.
@ed_markey green new deal with it
♬ Green New Deal With It - ed_markey
Little also expressed skepticism that security risks are the main reason why politicians are taking aim at TikTok, implying many are unable to deliver the authenticity and informality that users love about the app.
"I know the reputation of politicians... It's hard to be yourself all the time on these apps, but this one really allows me to do that," Little told Politico Magazine, adding that "If you get on there and do it wrong, you're just going to get roasted."
The timing of Trump's beef with TikTok has also raised speculation that it could be driven by more personal or xenophobic motivations.
In June, teen TikTok users claimed they helped tank attendance at Trump's rally in Oklahoma by reserving thousands of tickets and not showing up.
A day later, Trump campaign officials anonymously admitted to The New York Times that online trolls played a role.
Shortly after that, Trump and top officials from his administration began floating the idea of banning TikTok from the US entirely. At the time Trump suggested the ban would be punishment for the way China had responded to the spread of COVID-19, which he has repeatedly referred to using racist names.
But in an apparent acknowledgement of TikTok's massive pipeline to younger audiences, Trump just got his account verified on Triller, a rival app based in the US that has seen a spike in downloads amid uncertainty about TikTok's future.