[News] TikTok Consults Elon Musk Amid U.S. Ban Threat Ahead of Incoming Trump Administration

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According to a report from Commercial Times citing the Wall Street Journal, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew recently reached out to Elon Musk, who was nominated by the U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, to gain insights into potential technology policies under a new U.S. administration. Chew and ByteDance reportedly view Musk as a potential intermediary to communicate with the new administration.

The report notes that the U.S. has ordered ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, to sell its U.S. operations by January 2025 due to national security concerns, or the company will risk being banned.

On the other hand, however, the report highlighted that during his campaign, Trump stated that if re-elected, he would not support a ban on TikTok.

While Chew and Musk did not discuss specific measures to allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., Chew has reportedly informed ByteDance about their conversation, and senior executives at ByteDance hold a cautiously optimistic outlook, as the report indicates.

According to the report from Wall Street Journal, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, ByteDance has already started engaging with individuals close to both Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

The report notes that in April this year, President Joe Biden signed a “sell or ban” law targeting TikTok, putting the platform at risk of losing access to the U.S. market by January 2025.

In May, TikTok responded by filing a federal lawsuit. ByteDance has stated that it will not sell TikTok’s U.S. operations. Instead, the company is concentrating on the lawsuit. The report also notes that a decision from the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., is anticipated by early December.

Although TikTok has filed a constitutional lawsuit in response, the confidence of businesses and advertisers has already been shaken. TikTok’s global revenue for the first three quarters of 2024 fell short of expectations, as the report notes.

TikTok’s e-commerce business has seen its gross merchandise volume (GMV) fall below projections for several consecutive months, as the report points out. The popular livestream e-commerce model in China has struggled to gain rapid traction in Western countries.

Outside the U.S., TikTok is facing challenges in other Western countries. On November 6, the Canadian government ordered TikTok to dissolve its operations in Canada due to national security risks but did not ban Canadians from using the platform or creating content on it, as the report notes. Additionally, according to the report from Commercial Times, on November 8, Australia’s prime minister announced the drafting of regulation to prohibit children under 16 from using social media platforms, which is also expected to include TikTok.

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(Photo credit: TikTok)