BRILYN HOLLYHAND: White House Joins TikTok

When news broke that President Trump’s White House was officially joining TikTok, I wasn’t surprised — I was encouraged.

Too many in Washington still see TikTok as just a goofy dance app. For my generation, it’s the front page of the internet. And if Republicans want to win and hold Gen Z, ignoring it is political malpractice.

I’m 19, part of Gen Z, and I’ve seen firsthand what gets through to my peers. I chaired the RNC’s Youth Advisory Council and even met with the President one-on-one to urge him to join TikTok during the campaign.

Not because I loved China, but because I understood that our party issuing this self-imposed, sanctimonious boycott of the app would only make my peers on the app feel unheard.

The left was filling that space with content while too many conservatives sat on the sidelines.

But I also get the criticism. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, and legitimate concerns exist about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.

The question isn’t whether TikTok matters — the data proves it does. The question is: how do we deal with the national security risk without losing the ability to reach the voters who spend their lives on the platform?

Let’s start with the numbers. About 39% of U.S. adults under 30 say they regularly get news from TikTok, and some surveys put that figure closer to half. Compare that with cable news, where under-30s barely register. More broadly, 71% of Gen Z and Millennials get news daily through social media — and they don’t stick to one platform.

They scroll Instagram, YouTube, X, Reddit, and Snapchat, averaging four platforms a week.

And here’s the kicker: 58% of under-30 voters are “passive” news consumers. They’re not going out of their way to read the newspaper or tune in to nightly news. They encounter information because it lands in their feed. If political leaders — especially conservatives — don’t show up there, they’re ceding the entire conversation. (RELATED: TikTok Reportedly Building New U.S. Version Of App Ahead Of Sale) 

That’s why Trump’s White House TikTok account matters. His first eight months have been packed with accomplishments: rebuilding the economy, securing the border, re-establishing American strength abroad. But my peers won’t hear about it unless it shows up on their For You Page.

Now, let’s be honest: there are reasons people don’t trust TikTok. U.S. intelligence officials have raised alarms about data collection and algorithmic manipulation.

ByteDance is a Chinese company, and the CCP has a history of exerting control over private businesses. No American should want Beijing to have a backdoor into millions of young voters’ data or the ability to tilt what stories trend.

These concerns are real, but banning TikTok outright is not the answer. That would be like deciding in the 1960s that TV was dangerous and Republicans should just avoid it.

If you don’t show up where the next generation is consuming news, you lose them.

Period.

So what’s the solution? It’s not to abandon TikTok. It’s to Americanize it. The U.S. should force ByteDance to divest its American operations — spinning off TikTok U.S. into a standalone, American-owned company governed by U.S. privacy laws.

That way, the CCP loses leverage, but the platform remains intact for the millions of young people who rely on it.

This approach isn’t unprecedented. The Trump administration tried to push for it in 2020, and bipartisan lawmakers have floated similar plans. It’s the middle ground between ignoring real national security risks and cutting off the dominant news source for my generation.

I’ve spent the last few years working to bring Gen Z into the conservative movement.

I’ve seen it firsthand: young people aren’t tuning into Sunday shows — they’re watching 30-second TikToks, following “newsfluencers,” and trusting personalities over polished brands. Roughly 37% of under-30s say they get news directly from influencers, not legacy outlets.

This is the new ecosystem. If Republicans refuse to engage on platforms like TikTok, we’ll hand the microphone to the left. But if we step in — authentically, directly, and fearlessly — we can win the future.

Trump’s White House getting on TikTok is exactly the right move. It acknowledges that Gen Z matters, that they’re the future of the GOP, and that you can’t win the next generation without showing up in their feed.

Yes, the ByteDance/CCP problem must be solved. But the solution isn’t to ban TikTok — it’s to free it from Beijing and put it under American control. That way, young voters keep their platform, our country keeps its security, and Republicans keep their chance at the future. Because if we ignore TikTok, we ignore Gen Z. And if we ignore Gen Z, we ignore the future.

Brilyn Hollyhand is a 19-year-old political commentator, bestselling author of “One Generation Away: Why Now is the Time to Restore American Freedom”, and host of “The Brilyn Hollyhand Show”. He’s a freshman at Auburn University studying political science. For more of his hot takes you can follow him on socials @BrilynHollyhand or visit BrilynHollyhand.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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