Why the leading U.S. presidential candidates have joined TikTok.
Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is coming up, but first, making headlines:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to his home country of Australia after a 14-year legal odyssey. Assange’s freedom follows his agreement to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors on espionage charges. He spent the last five years in a United Kingdom prison while resisting extradition to the U.S.
The owner of a South Korean lithium factory publicly apologized Tuesday after a massive fire killed 22 workers and injured 8 on Monday. Officials say 18 of the dead are Chinese, and more than 100 people were working at the factory. The fire, triggered by exploding lithium batteries, is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years.
The U.S. State Department released its annual Trafficking in Persons report Monday. Global law enforcement data listed 18,774 prosecutions of human traffickers in 2023. An activist from the Philippines was one of 10 TIP Report Heroes honored for their work to combat human trafficking.
“Children are sexually abused by local traffickers, who then sell or spread these images to sex offenders online to direct from anywhere in the world. And according to the study that we have conducted to determine the scale of this crime in the Philippines, close to half a million Filipino children are actually victims of this crime in 2022 alone. So that's one in 100 Filipino children are victims of this crime.”
Since 2016, International Justice Mission Philippines has helped remove 544 children from situations of commercial sexual exploitation and 1,237 children who were at risk of online sexual exploitation crimes.
Thousands of cricket fans in Afghanistan took to the streets of Islamabad on Tuesday to celebrate their national team's first-ever entry into the cricket World Cup semifinals. The team beat Bangladesh and Australia. They lost to South Africa in the semis.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agree on few things, but a ban on the Beijing-based social network TikTok is one of them. Now, with a presidential election at stake, both are joining the platform they previously attempted to take down. Will it make a difference on Election Day? VOA’s Tina Trinh reports.
“The president is now on TikTok.”
“It’s my honor.”
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ((end courtesy)) joined TikTok this month.
“Chiefs or Niners?”
“Two great quarterbacks, hard to decide …”
President Joe Biden did the same in February.
It seems the often-maligned social network is no longer a problem when there’s a presidential election on the line.
“The entire social media world has changed in the four years between the last presidential election and this one. This is the first one in which TikTok is the dominant force that it is now.”
Both Biden and Trump were in favor of banning TikTok in the U.S., citing security concerns over its parent company’s ties to the Chinese government.
But with 170 million users in the U.S., 44 percent of them aged 18 to 29, TikTok represents a critical opportunity to win over young voters.
Still, even as more Americans get their news on social media, a recent study finds it’s not why they’re there.
“When we asked about what reason you turn to these sites, I think entertainment was the top reason for every single one of them, and especially for TikTok, entertainment was a huge reason and news was not a major reason that people were turning to the sites.”
TikTok users come across news indirectly, through opinion or humor-based posts referencing current events, and unlike Facebook or Instagram, they’re not posts by friends or family.
“On TikTok, the most common source of news is actually other people they don't know personally.”
“The algorithm is feeding people things more so than they're following someone specifically.”
Marketing experts say building on the reach and reputation of online influencers is key.
“You've got to figure out a way to convey your message and you know, explain why you'd be a better president,"
in a way that's going to make sense and not turn people off on this platform that they've come to for fun. They haven't come to ((end courtesy)) hear your political ad.”
In what is shaping up to be a close race, TikTok influencers might be this election season’s digital campaign managers.
Tina Trinh, VOA News, New York.
Finally, a movie that is moving people to tears in Southeast Asia has become a surprise hit.
The movie is called “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.” Its theme is universal — a story about bonding with family. It attracted more than 10 million moviegoers worldwide and made 23.7 million dollars in the first five days after its release in Thailand, making it the top Thai movie in Southeast Asia.
Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly.