As TikTok faces a ban in the United States if it does not divest from its China-based owner, the CEO of the popular social media platform has reportedly been messaging Elon Musk on topics ranging from President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration to potential tech policy it could implement.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has been talking to Musk, who has emerged as a key figure alongside Trump, over the past few weeks. It added that Chew and others at ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, view Musk as a key channel into Trump’s second administration that is set to take office in January of next year after a dominant election display earlier this month.
However, Chew and Musk have not discussed potential options for TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. if it is banned, which could happen in mid-January of next year after President Joe Biden signed a bill forcing the sale in April. TikTok sued the Biden administration shortly after, citing the First Amendment.
While TikTok’s future in the U.S. is uncertain, Trump said in a CNBC interview earlier this year that Congress should “make that decision, because it’s a tough decision to make,” while acknowledging that he believes the social media platform is a national security threat.
In the same interview, he added, “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There are a lot of users. There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok.”
These remarks marked a reversal from his stance on TikTok during his first administration, when he signed an executive order banning the app in 2020, which was ultimately blocked in court.
Trump also said in September of this year that “we’re not doing anything” with the app in a video posted to Truth Social.
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“We’re not doing anything with TikTok, but the other side is going to close it up, so if you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump,” he said.
He also embraced the platform over the summer during his presidential campaign in an effort to court Gen Z voters, a strategy that largely worked.