The last few weeks have been crucial for ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, in its attempt to prevent—or delay—the US ban of the short video platform. Following the appeals court’s rejection of the request for an emergency pause in the implementation of the bill, the company has turned to the Supreme Court. In addition, TikTok’s CEO met with Donald Trump, a report claims.
TikTok CEO and Donald Trump recently met, according to CNN report
According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and the new president-elect of the US, Donald Trump, met yesterday (December 16) at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump has emerged as one of TikTok’s unexpected allies this year. During his first presidential term, he was in favor of banning the app. Trump, like the DOJ currently does, cited national security concerns as the main motivation for the ban.
Trump confirmed his change of mind regarding TikTok earlier this year. In March, he said that banning the platform from the US would only benefit Meta’s social media services. “…without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said. Although Mark Zuckerberg and the new president-elect of the US seem to have already smoothed over their differences, the idea of trying to prevent the banning of TikTok seems to still be on the table.
The “anti-TikTok law” will come into force before Trump’s inauguration
However, Trump may have to overcome some barriers. The bill’s current deadline is set for January 19, while the upcoming presidential inauguration will take place on January 20. The impending change of administration was one of the arguments raised by ByteDance before the appeals court. The company believes that the new president should have time to decide whether to act on the situation. However, the judges rejected it unanimously.
As a sitting president, Joe Biden can extend the deadline of the law by 90 days. But given that Biden personally signed the bill, this is unlikely to occur.
Shou Zi Chew is not the only CEO of a big tech company who has met with Trump recently. Google CEO Sundar Pichai did so this week, while Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is set to do so next week. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also on the list.
