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Today's Paper | March 18, 2026

Published 05 Nov, 2024 02:08pm

TikTok helped put old political scandals on young voters’ radar, activist says

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump targeted Gen-Z voters as they campaigned ahead of the election, many of whom will be voting for the first time today, CNN reports.

Columbia University’s Columbia Magazine found that Gen Z make up more than 40 million voters, including eight million new voters.

And social media’s influence on these voters cannot be underestimated, according to Aidan Kohn-Murphy, founder of advocacy group Gen-Z for Change. He told CNN that TikTok has helped inform many young people about the presidential candidates and their campaigns.

Key issues for younger voters are “climate, reproductive justice, gun violence and Biden’s incredibly unpopular support for the Israeli government,” Kohn-Murphy said.

He said that young people shared information on TikTok in a “peer-to-peer model, that really leads people to support candidates more.”

He also noted that many first-time voters did not have previous political scandals — such as former President Donald Trump’s tape — on their radar, but social media had enabled them to learn more about the candidates.

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