A campaign launched by TikTok activists with connections to President Joe Biden could be getting boosted by the Chinese Communist Party, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska speculated at a press conference Tuesday.
The project, which would entail three to five drilling sites on federal land in Alaska’s North Slope, could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day, roughly 1.5% of U.S. oil production. The hashtags #stopwillow and #stopthewillowproject have each accumulated roughly 150 million views through Tuesday evening on TikTok — the fully owned American subsidiary of Chinese company ByteDance — with young activists criticizing Biden for playing up climate activism during his campaign while appearing ready to approve a project that would release more than 275 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, Forbes reported. (RELATED: Top US Cyber Official Warns Beijing ‘Has The Corner,’ Says US Should Be Wary Of Using Chinese Products)
Speaking at a news conference hosted by Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia about legislation to restrict TikTok and other foreign technologies, Sullivan suggested one explanation: that the Chinese government might be behind the digital campaign’s popularity.
“One of the things the Chinese fear more than anything, in terms of our power, is American energy. You read the reporting, Xi Jingping is scared to death of American energy dominance,” said Sullivan at a press conference Tuesday. “TikTok in the last week has had over 300 million views relating to stopping this project. Whoa. Okay, maybe that’s the good work of some of the lower 48 environmental groups, but maybe that’s the Chinese Communist Party trying to influence young Americans on an issue that, in my view, is really, really important for our country and will strengthen our country.”
We are on the verge of destroying Earth in a way that cannot be fixed. This will result in an unprecedented amount of lost jobs and homes, sickness, and community displacement. We must call on President Biden to stop the development of the Willow Project!https://t.co/MB9jsgLuRm
— Gen-Z for Change (@genzforchange) March 3, 2023
The first viral video in the campaign was posted by Elise Joshi — acting executive director of the White House-linked Gen-Z for Change — who told CNN that while “climate doesn’t trend often,” the video acquired more than 100,000 views in several days, eventually accumulating more than 300,000.
Gen-Z for Change, originally known as TikTok for Biden, was in regular contact with Biden campaign digital director Rob Flaherty during the Biden team’s transition to the White House, has hosted a town hall with chief White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci regarding vaccines and also attended a White House briefing with Biden administration communications director Kate Bedingfield regarding the Build Back Better plan, according to Politico. The group has been criticized for operating as “unpaid propagandists” for the Biden administration, a characterization it disputes.
“It’s not like we’re huge Joe Biden superfans,” founder Aidan Kohn-Murphy told Politico. “Like, we were pushing for Joe Biden because we wanted to use our platforms to make progressive change, and at the time, it was the most effective way to do so.”
The White House is expected to make a final decision regarding the Willow project this week. Willow has received bipartisan support from Alaskan lawmakers with some Native Alaskan communities in support and some against.
Gen-Z for Change and TikTok did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment.
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