President-elect Donald Trump met with Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday as the social media platform faces a potential ban in the United States.
The meeting, first reported by CBS News citing unnamed sources, comes as TikTok fights efforts by US authorities to ban it unless sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 19.
A recently passed law mandates TikTok’s sale or removal due to alleged ties between ByteDance and the Chinese government.
Both TikTok and ByteDance have consistently denied such connections. The legislation was described as a measure to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary-controlled applications.”
TikTok has submitted an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court, requesting a “modest delay” in the ban to allow for judicial review and give the incoming administration time to assess the situation.
In its filing, the company warned that the ban would cause “immediate irreparable harm” to TikTok and its US users, emphasizing that it is “one of the most significant speech platforms” in the country.
Trump, who previously supported a TikTok ban during his first term, now opposes the move. He has criticized the legislation, suggesting it could unfairly benefit competitors like Facebook, which he has accused of influencing his 2020 election defeat.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump commented, “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. There are those that say TikTok had something to do with that. TikTok had an impact.”
Although the majority of young voters aged 18 to 29 backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in November’s election, Trump saw a notable increase in support from this demographic compared to 2020.
TikTok joined the legal battle after a federal appeals court recently upheld the ban, calling it the result of “extensive, bipartisan action by Congress and successive presidents.”
The company, which only began its legal challenge after earlier negotiations to sell its US operations stalled, described the proposed ban as an “existential threat.”
Trump, who only joined TikTok in June, gained millions of followers on the platform during his campaign.
As his second term begins on January 20, one day after the ban’s deadline, Trump’s administration plans to reassess the matter. “We’ll take a look at TikTok,” he said, leaving open the possibility of changes to the policy.
Source-BBC
