Morning Update: A TikTok presidential election

Good morning. It’s Ann Hui, demographics reporter, filling in for Danielle Groen. Put the lime green away. Brat summer is over, by official decree of Charli XCX. So what does that mean for the U.S. election – what some have already declared the “TikTok election”? More on that below. But first:

Today’s headlines

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is contending with an exodus of senior staff just as the minority Liberals are returning to a much more precarious position in the House of Commons without the automatic support of the NDP.
• The organization that represents Canadian doctors calls for the creation of an independent accountability officer to track and report the dizzying array of bilateral health agreements signed by Ottawa and the provinces.
• Criminally charged former Hockey Canada players write personal statements to the London court about their fading hockey hopes, with some asking permission to skip non-essential hearings to make use of what time they have left to play professionally.

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POV

Watching candidates on TikTok who are also maybe banning TikTok

First there were cat lady memes. Then coconut trees. “White guy tacos.” The past few weeks of the U.S. election have been fought not only over stump speeches, but also on Instagram, Facebook – and, increasingly, TikTok.

The Harris campaign spent some $57-million on digital and social media ads in late July, my colleague Samantha Edwards reports. But is it money well spent? The experts on whether memes will translate into votes, she writes, are divided. ”The more they dig into the very online, the less they connect with the suburban moms,” CUNY Queens College professor Jamie Cohen said.

There’s also the awkward question of TikTok. It was only in April that President Joe Biden signed a law to ban the Chinese tech giant from the U.S. unless it is sold by the end of this year. The clock is still ticking on that deadline as the law makes its way through U.S. courts.

The rationale for the law, according to the U.S. government, was to protect American interests: “to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel,” said Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell.

And yet, in the months since, all four of the main electoral candidates have joined TikTok. The reason for this is clear: There are some 170-million TikTok users in the U.S. that each candidate hopes to turn into votes.

Former president Donald Trump (10.8M followers) posted his first TikTok back in June, from a UFC fight, with UFC president Dana White. His feed since has been a mishmash of The Apprentice memes, not just one or two but three videos with Logan Paul (the YouTuber-turned-wrestler best known for his video mocking suicide victims), and ... this dance. The feed of his running mate J.D. Vance (647K followers), meanwhile, is comparably staid: campaign speech clips, and the occasional appearance of his dog Atlas.

Kamala Harris (5M followers) joined the app in late July, followed a few weeks later by Tim Walz (1.4M). The latter, in true Midwest Dad fashion, immediately declared it “TimTok.”

So far, Harris has not commented on whether her TikTok account signals a shift on the issue of a potential ban. Back in March, before Biden signed the law on TikTok, Harris had seemed to signal reluctance, telling reporters that a ban was “not at all the goal.” And since joining TikTok, she’s been busy, singing “bye bye bye” to Donald Trump with Lance Bass from N’Sync, and trading recipes for greens with bacon at a campaign event.

Trump’s position on TikTok is similarly complicated. As president back in 2020, Trump tried to ban TikTok, citing the app as a security threat. He’s since reversed his stand. And in recent weeks, he’s attempted to position himself as the protector of speech on the app.

“For all those that want to save TikTok in America, vote Trump!” he said last week.

Still, there’s precedence for a ban. India, which was once TikTok’s largest market, banned the app in 2020 amidst a border conflict with China. The social media platform remains unavailable in the country. And just last week, Brazil enforced a ban on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, for allegedly spreading misinformation.

So what will happen with TikTok in the U.S.? That answer might not become clear until after November’s election. On whether the winner is Harris or Trump – and whether what follows brat summer is an ‘Auntie’ autumn, or a ‘weird’ winter.

Profile pic

Canada won 29 medals at the Paris Paralympics

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Canada won a total of 29 medals at the Paralympic Games in Paris, including 10 golds. Swimming and track and field events led the way with a combined 22 medals, including all of our gold wins. Nicholas Bennett, the swimmer from Parksville, B.C. who won two golds and a silver, and canoeist Brianna Hennessy, who won a silver, were chosen as Canada’s flag-bearers for the closing ceremonies.

Canada tied for 15th with India in total medals among the 168 competing countries.

Still want more? Here’s a full look of every medal won by Canada.

This week

What we’re following:

Today: Sentencing for former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, who was found guilty last year of four counts of sexual assault.

Today: Congress reconvenes after summer break for a battle over spending with consequences for the next occupant of the White House.

Today: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will face a strained caucus in B.C. to address the political purgatory the party has endured for months.

Tomorrow: The second U.S. presidential debate – but the first between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Tomorrow: Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem will give a speech to the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday: Statistics Canada will report its national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for the second quarter.

Friday: Trial for Freedom Convoy expected to wrap in Ottawa.