NowThis Impact, Barbershops and Madison Square Garden?!  

You might not think that this combination would be critical for a 2024 election memo one week before polls close. But, with so much misinformation, disinformation, and divisive rhetoric lacking accuracy and sources being shared to Black, Brown and Young voters in mere seconds, it’s clear that how, when, and where our Communities of Color are learning the truth and being empowered on social media will be paramount to who is elected President. TikTok as a platform, Barbershops as a venue, and moments such as the surreal rally at Madison Square Garden this past Sunday demonstrate the immediate effect that moments recorded and shared out with the wider world can quickly impact Voters of Color.  While some are using one social media platform to distract and divide, others are utilizing TikTok to entertain and educate. If we are not calling for the ban of X with its owner literally posting conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric, we should take a pause on calling for a ban of TikTok, especially when polling suggests that the latter gives us as Democrats a chance to reach those who might post a dance move but not move to the polls. 

Before President Biden dropped out, the TikTok ban was a political liability for his campaign, particularly among younger voters and people of color, with former President Trump cynically exploiting the issue by vowing to save the app (despite his earlier support of the ban). In part as a result of TikTok politics, support from these key voting blocs for Biden had weakened and was below his 2020 levels. 

But, then along came Vice President Harris who sparked a creativity, energy, youthful embrace and with it, a new way to reach the new base of voters who were sitting on the digital sidelines: Say hello to TikTok. Simultaneously, her rise brought out the beyond controversial and the blurred line unethical behavior of Elon Musk and X, who continues to use his social media and in-person platforms to share misinformation, lies, and contradictory information. 

Reverting to my opening paragraph, recent TikTok posts such as the Black Men for Kamala Harris conversation from the NowThisImpact account filmed at a Barbershop with young Black men saying that “if we trust your Mom to run your house, you can trust a woman to run The White House” brought a sincerity, clarity, and humanity to a heavy and unspoken conversation about how race and class impact political and policy decisions. Moreover, when you see posts on other platforms from the Madison Square Garden rally highlighting racist and sexist comments by individuals supporting former President Trump, it not only sparks someone pursuing other outlets such as TikTok to find a place that can bring a lighthearted smile, it can also lead to said user learning substantive information that they would not otherwise obtain. 

Since Harris’ ascent to the top of the ticket, the dynamics around TikTok have changed. Democratic campaigns, including Harris, are now openly embracing TikTok, and they have been rewarded by increasing levels of support among young voters and people of color. Moreover, the coalition that will determine a Harris Presidency is very clear of its desire to see a candidate on the side of keeping TikTok while finding a moderate and balanced operation to continue operations. Many TikTok users (and voters) use the app to get their news and follow politics, they now see content from both Democratic campaigns and organic supporters, and this engagement is leading to increased support for Democrats. Crucially, these same voters and users of TikTok strongly oppose the TikTok ban. 

Vice President Kamala Harris should consider breaking with President Biden on the TikTok ban and make clear to younger Americans and people of color — and the more than 170 million who regularly watch videos on the app — that she will save TikTok.

From a pure political math standpoint, the Harris campaign must win back and mobilize the youth vote in battleground states that had not been motivated to turn out for Biden. The same is true for all people of color, including Black, Latino, and AAPI voters. Harris must activate these voting blocs to at least 2020 levels to beat Donald Trump. One of the easiest, most straightforward ways to signal to these voters that Harris is new, different, and in-touch with the concerns of the next generation is to repudiate the TikTok ban. This policy shift could prove to be both a massive political win in the 2024 presidential election, but it could also help solidify her standing with these voters for years to come. The 2028 election is not far away, and many TikTok users today will be of voting age soon.  

As one of my 2012 campaign bosses said bluntly, numbers don’t lie, people do! So, what do the numbers say? Young Voters of Color want TikTok and they want politicians who will build with them, not ban the platform. Per a recent poll, nearly half (47%) use it daily, with Black voters using TikTok 67% daily. 53% of young voters of color oppose banning TikTok, while only 34% support such a ban, and this is especially true for Black voters (68% support keeping TikTok operational). 40% of young voters of color are more likely to support a presidential candidate who promises to keep TikTok operational. Daily TikTok users strongly oppose a ban (70% to 23% margin), and 80% of them want the next president to find a compromise that allows TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. 

If TikTok is critical enough to help win an election, it is equally critical for an administration to not ban it. We can acknowledge that regulation changes are necessary. But, instead of pursuing a ban, we should pursue a solution together where we all build.

Let’s do a quick dive into the data and what’s happened since Harris became the nominee:

Young voters and voters of color were critical to Biden’s win in 2020, and they will be again for Harris to win in 2024. 

• In 2020, young voters chose Biden over Trump by a 61-36 margin. 

• Biden’s support from young voters was key in all the battleground states. 

• Georgia: Biden won here by only 12,000 votes total – but he got an estimated 188,000 more votes (57%-39%) from youth than Trump did. 

• Pennsylvania: Biden won this state by about 80,000 votes – but he got an estimated 154,000 more youth votes here than Trump (58%-39%).

• Turnout increased in 2020 among this key voting bloc as well. 

• More than 10 million voters under the age of 30 went to the polls, a level of between 53%-56%, a significant increase from 2016 projections of 45%-48% and the highest rate since 1971. 

• This increased the share of vote for young voters from 16% in 2016 to 17%.

• While Biden also won voters of color by big margins in 2020, he was trailing in the race for 2024. 

• He won 90% of Black voters in the last election, but his support had fallen to just 77% in May 2024. 

• He also won 63% of Latino voters in 2020, but he was essentially tied with Trump for their support in the summer. 

• Harris will need similar levels of support and turnout from all these voters to win in November. 

These voters use TikTok to follow politics, and they increasingly oppose a ban of the app, particularly among Democrats. 

• TikTok is very popular with these key voting blocs: 

• More than 60% of people under 30 use TikTok, 45% of the user base. 

• More than 40% of women are on the platform, 62% of the user base. 

• 39% of Black Americans use TikTok, 16% of its user base. 

• As of August 2024, around half of TikTok users (52%) say they regularly get news there, up from just 22% in 2020. 

• More American adults now oppose the TikTok ban than ever before, with 28% of adult Americans opposing the ban, up from 6 points from March 2023. 

• Among Democrats, that shift from support to opposition has been remarkable: In March 2023, Democrats supported a ban by 18 points; today, Democrats oppose a ban by 10 points. That’s a 28 point shift in 18 months. 

• A strong majority (53%) of young voters of color oppose banning TikTok, while only 34% support such a ban. That includes 54% of Black voters, 52% of Latinx voters, and 50% of AAPI voters. 

• Two-thirds (66%) of young voters of color want the next president to find a compromise that allows TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. 

• Among the app’s users, 70% strongly oppose a ban, and 80% want the next president to find a compromise that allows TikTok to keep operating.

• Daily TikTok users are much more likely to support a candidate who promises to keep TikTok operating (54% to 8%).

Led by Harris, Democrats and activists have embraced TikTok to reach these key  voters. 

• The Harris campaign dived in on TikTok in late July, creating personal accounts for Harris (5.6m followers) and Tim Walz (1.6m followers). The Harris campaign quickly overtook the Biden campaign in total video views (384 million for Harris vs. 174 million for Biden), averaging 12x the views per video compared to Biden.  

• Harris isn’t alone: Rachel Petri, Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) campaign manager, touted the Senator’s TikTok strategy for reaching youth voters and voters of color, despite voting for the ban: “Senator Brown was one of the first senators up for reelection this cycle to get on TikTok. Because we know that a huge number of Ohioans are on that platform, and it’s a really important way to connect with folks.”

• Popular influencers on TikTok have flocked to the Harris campaign, endorsing her and creating content at the DNC. Even political novices have joined in, creating  “edits,” “remixes” and memes. This is helping the campaign “[win] the FYP battle,” according to Knowa De Baroso, and “influence reaches young voters who are not typically tuning into CNN or reading The New York Times.”

• In honor of National Voter Registration Day on September 17, former President Obama conducted a series of interviews with TikTok influencers. 

This TikTok-focused effort is convincing youth voters to support Harris.

• Since Harris started posting, her campaign is winning the war over TikTok: The sentiment on the platform was much more positive toward Harris and more negative toward Trump. In the week of October 17, 59% of top posts about Harris were positive, compared to only 33% of top posts about Trump.

• That posting is translating into support. 

• According to a new Harvard IOP poll, Harris now leads Trump by 31 points among likely young voters (61% for Harris, 30% for Trump). The last time this poll was taken in March, Biden was at 50%. 

• Young voters of color are driving the surge, with Black voters increasing in support from 49% for Biden in April to 70% for Harris, and Hispanic voters increasing from 33% to 49%. 

• Social media has apparently been key in convincing voters: Memes about Harris positively influenced 34% of young adults and negatively influenced only 16%, while Trump memes had a positive impact on only 13% of young voters and a negative impact on 26%.

At the same time, the Trump campaign is trying to win these same voters through TikTok engagement, and by positioning Trump as a savior for the app. 

• Trump’s campaign considers TikTok “a secret weapon for reaching young voters” and fully embraced the platform in June, with a launch video watched more than 170 million times. The campaign now has 11 million followers. 

• Trump has turned TikTok into a campaign issue, positioning himself as the platform’s savior: “For all of those that want to save TikTok, vote Trump… The other side is going to close it up, so if you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump.”

• If Harris does not make her position clear on the issue, Trump is effectively owning it with youth voters. 

For the Vice President, opposing the TikTok ban is good policy and better politics.

• Harris is already on the record opposing a TikTok ban – “We have no intention to ban TikTok.” – so this is not a new position.

• She has empowered Gen Z creators to craft brilliant social content that’s resonating with voters – showing that her team isn’t too concerned about the political risk. 

• Opposing the TikTok ban allows Harris to neutralize the issue that Trump is cynically exploiting and helps distinguish herself with Gen Z voters. 

• Since Harris is running to replace an unpopular president, she will need to respectfully break with President Biden on some issues, even as she runs on the President’s record of remarkable achievement over the past four years. 

• Since the TikTok ban is not considered a legacy item for President Biden (after all, his campaign had used and promoted the platform), this makes repudiating Biden’s stance on TikTok an easier break.