TikTok CEO meets with Donald Trump regarding U.S. ban
 |
| Shou Zi Chew and Donald Trump |
Bytedance has been making moves since last few weeks to prevent, delay and stop the potential ban coming the TikTok in the United States next year. Following the denial of the appeals court about the request of an emergency pause on the bill’s implementation, Bytedance has escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.
Now, a report suggests that TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew held a meeting with Donald Trump to address the potential ban in the U.S. The meeting was held yesterday (Dec. 16) at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Shou Zi Chew isn’t the only big tech CEO to have met with Trump recently. This week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai held a meeting with him, while Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is due to do so next week. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also on the list.
Trump was once TikTok Enemy
Donald Trump has surprisingly become one of TikTok’s supporters this year, despite previously wanting to ban the app during his first time as president. Back then, he said the ban was needed because of national security concerns, similar to what the US Department of Justice is saying now.
However, Trump changed his mind earlier this year. In March, he argued that banning TikTok would mainly help Facebook (owned by Meta) grow bigger. He even called Facebook “an enemy of the people.”
While it seems that Mark Zuckerberg and the new US president-elect have made peace, the idea of stopping TikTok’s ban still seems to be under consideration.
The “anti-TikTok law” is set to take effect before Trump’s inauguration.
Despite the fact that Donald Trump is now acting friendly to TikTok, the “anti-TikTok law” will come into force before Trump’s inauguration. The bill is set to take effect on January 19th 2025 and the upcoming U.S. presidential inauguration will take place on January 20th 2025.
ByteDance argued to the appeals court that the new president should be given a chance to decide what to do about the situation, but the judges all disagreed. Although President Joe Biden has the power to delay the law by 90 days, it’s unlikely he will, as he personally signed the bill into law.
The bill bans TikTok in the United States, preventing people from using the app and stopping companies from working with it. It claims the app is a threat to national security because it collects user data, which could be accessed by the Chinese government.
