The White House and Joe Biden campaign spark debate over social media accounts

UPDATED: The White House, President Joe Biden and his presidential campaign are opening accounts on Threads, the meta-rival to Elon Musk’s controversial X/Twitter.

First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also open Threads accounts with LaCasaBlanca. The threads also show @joebiden and @kamalaharris’ campaign accounts.

The Threads launch has been in the works for several weeks and there are no plans to change the government’s use of X/Twitter, a source familiar with the decision said. The launch on Threads was a decision made based on its usage, the source said.

But the announcement came after the White House condemned Musk’s strengthening and endorsement of an anti-Semitic post last week. As a result, several advertisers stopped spending. Major media companies, including Comcast, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros Discovery, have announced that they will stop advertising alongside other brands such as Apple and IBM.

Musk has defended himself against allegations that he is anti-Semitic, while also threatening to sue Media Matters.

The White House’s launch of Threads could give the platform a significant boost. It launched last summer and initially benefited from user exodus from X/Twitter following Musk’s changes to the platform. But Threads is still not the social media site of choice for big announcements and breaking news.

During today’s press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre again condemned Musk’s support for the anti-Semitic post and said they would continue to make such comments.

In one of his first messages, Biden, whose birthday is today, wrote: “I turned 81 and all I got was a new social platform!” Thanks for the congratulations, folks. And to the workers at the birthday candle factory: I hope your union gives you overtime.”

Meanwhile, the president also promoted his new Threads account – on X/Twitter.