An announcement by US President Donald Trump that he is shutting down video app TikTok has sent netizens into panic mode, with some going as far as predicting that the move, bound to enrage Generation Z, will cost him an election.
Trump announced his decision to ban the popular Chinese video-sharing app in the US while talking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday.
The Trump administration has previously hinted that it was mulling the ban, with the US president repeatedly voicing alarm about TikTok and other Chinese entities harvesting American data. However, it was unclear if he would go through with the move until the very last moment in light of reports earlier on Friday that Microsoft was eyeing to buy the video app from Chinese firm ByteDance.
Also on rt.com Trump says he will BAN TikTok in US within 24 hoursThe decision has therefore sent shockwaves across Twitter, with online pundits predicting huge blowback for Trump from incensed teenagers – the principal users of the platform which is especially popular with young people.
As the hashtag #GenZ shot to the top of Twitter's trends, some suggested the move might even cost him reelection in November.
“Trump banning TikTok would be the best gift he can give the Democrats this election,” political activist Linda Sarsour, who was the co-chair of the 2019 Women's March, tweeted.
Trump’s detractors argued that if nothing else, a looming TikTok ban would mobilize the youngsters to show up to vote.
“Gen Z and TikTok stans should retaliate by organizing the biggest Get Out The Vote campaign ever,” said the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, a self-described non-partisan, non-profit and youth-led organization “inspired by movements such as March For Our Lives and Fridays For Futures.”
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