You Should Be Reading This on TikTok

While no single factor explains this, a key challenge in the last few years is that the foreign-policy community uses the wrong platforms. It remains markedly absent from where young Americans consume information: TikTok.

Despite TikTok’s dominance as an information source—with 43 percent of U.S. adults under 30 regularly getting news from the app—the foreign-policy establishment has barely touched it, citing security concerns about the Chinese-owned platform or dismissing it as an unserious venue for choreographed dances. Politicians and domestically focused policy groups are active on the platform and understand its power, but their foreign-policy counterparts are missing in action.

Concerns about TikTok are entirely legitimate, but the foreign-policy community’s absence from the platform isn’t just a missed opportunity; it’s a communications crisis that people who care about the United States’ global leadership can no longer afford to ignore. Recent developments also indicate that TikTok is here to stay in the United States, and avoiding it will ultimately be untenable.

Visitors at TikTok’s stand at the Appliance & Electronics World Expo in Shanghai on April 27, 2023. Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

However, the Trump administration has repeatedly delayed enforcement and, in September, the president signed an executive order approving a framework for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S.-led consortium. While details of that deal remain unclear and security concerns persist, TikTok has survived its near-death experience and remains one of the most influential platforms in the United States.

Today, according to the company, 170 million people in the United States are using TikTok. A third of U.S. adults use TikTok; for adults under 30, that proportion rises to 59 percent. A 2025 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace study found that 74 percent of Gen Z gets foreign-policy news from social media, compared with 41 percent from online journalism and 7 percent from print newspapers.

Right-wing influencers have significantly ramped up their foreign-policy content on the platform. Some are reportedly funded or boosted by interest groups or foreign entities, though the content creators themselves have no real background in foreign policy. In an episode featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Full Send Podcast host Kyle Forgeard admitted: “We are so not qualified to do this.”

Progressive and nonpartisan influencers also discuss foreign policy on the platform. Commentary on the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian situation in Gaza has gained meaningful traction, with not only politically inclined creators but also travel and food influencers wading in to offer their views. But whether right, left, or apolitical, the loudest voices are social media personalities, not foreign-policy thinkers with the ability to provide informed commentary.

Unfortunately, Washington’s foreign-policy community is not helping to fill this void. Of the city’s prominent foreign-policy institutions, only the Council on Foreign Relations and the Quincy Institute maintain active accounts on TikTok. By contrast, almost every think tank and pundit in Washington has a presence on X and/or Bluesky.

Why the disconnect? Besides security concerns, and the generational divide, a bigger challenge is that TikTok requires a totally different style of communication. However different tweeting is from composing a traditional foreign-policy op-ed, both are still a form of written communication. TikTok demands something more spontaneous and vulnerable: looking into a camera and talking. It’s concise, visual, and personal. For analysts used to having more control over their message, recording a 60-second, off-the-cuff video might feel uncomfortable. But that discomfort has left a vacuum that others are happy to fill.

Protesters hold signs in support of TikTok outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 13, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Instead of avoiding TikTok, organizations and individuals can take basic precautionary measures to protect their data privacy. Organizations can set up a separate device and email or phone number dedicated to TikTok; limit app permissions (like refusing access to contacts or linked social media accounts); and enable two-factor authentication. These steps protect users while enabling the foreign-policy community to engage.

In the longer term, the national security community should help shape TikTok’s future rather than simply opposing its existence. That could include developing mechanisms for independent audits, more transparent data handling, and ongoing oversight. The goal should be to promote practical safeguards that reduce risk without shutting down a platform used by millions of Americans, including small businesses, politicians, and news organizations.

Then, when it comes to engaging on TikTok, the foreign-policy community should embrace the challenge of bringing a new generation of Americans into their conversation. Roundtables and op-eds geared towards an audience that is already paying attention is great. But getting the wider public to pay attention will also require working with formats native to TikTok, like short explainers; commentary on breaking news; myth-busting; duets with viral content; and collaborations with mainstream influencers.

Crucially, these efforts have to be targeted a public whose attention can’t be taken for granted. As commentators trained to talk on TV know, operating in a 60-second format requires you to strip out jargon, lead with human impact, and answer the question “Why should I care?” within the first five seconds. Instead of talking about energy security, explain how wars can raise the price of heating a home in Pittsburgh. Instead of talking about a “humanitarian crisis,” say “families losing access to food, water, or medicine.” If your explanation requires a preamble or caveat, you need a different approach.

Finally, a new medium may require new messengers. To engage on TikTok, think tanks and their comms teams must be prepared to delegate greater authority to younger staff and analysts who understand the platform and can translate complex issues into relatable content. These staffers should be empowered to bypass slow traditional communications channels to ensure timely, informal content creation.

For years, the foreign-policy community has been losing the attention and confidence of the U.S. public. Yet instead of seizing a platform with a built-in audience of 170 million U.S. users, many continue debating on podcasts and in newsletters that take years to gain traction and are largely ignored by young people.

The best arguments and analysis mean nothing if they never reach an audience. By staying off TikTok, the foreign-policy community isn’t protecting its credibility; it’s surrendering its relevance.

Whether you see TikTok as a security risk or cultural sideshow, it’s already a foreign-policy battleground. If the policy community wants to bridge the trust gap with younger generations, it must shift from avoidance to active engagement on TikTok.