US President-elect Donald Trump met the CEO of TikTok on Monday, because the social media large fights plans by US authorities to ban it.
Trump met Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Monday, the BBC’s US companion CBS Information reported, citing sources aware of the assembly.
A legislation handed earlier this yr means TikTok shall be banned until it’s offered by its Chinese language mum or dad firm, ByteDance, earlier than 19 January.
The corporate has made an emergency software to the US Supreme Court docket to have the ban delayed.
The US desires TikTok offered or banned due to alleged hyperlinks between ByteDance and the Chinese language state, hyperlinks that each TikTok and ByteDance have all the time denied.
The invoice introducing the legislation mentioned it was meant to “shield the nationwide safety of the USA from the menace posed by international adversary managed functions”.
Trump opposes the ban – regardless of supporting one throughout his first time period – partly on the grounds that it might assist Fb, which he has accused of aiding his 2020 election loss.
Trump’s second time period, nevertheless, will not start till he’s inaugurated on 20 January, the day after the deadline set out within the legislation.
In its submitting to the Supreme Court docket, submitted on Monday, TikTok requested for a “modest delay” to the enforcement of the ban to “create respiratory room” for a assessment by the Court docket and to permit the incoming administration to “consider this matter”.
It described TikTok as “one of the crucial vital speech platforms” within the US and mentioned the ban would do “rapid irreparable hurt” to the corporate and its customers.
Earlier this month, the corporate’s bid to have the ban overturned was rejected by the federal appeals courtroom, which discovered that the legislation was the “fruits of in depth, bipartisan motion by the Congress and by successive presidents”.
At a press convention on Monday, Trump mentioned his administration would “check out TikTok”.
“I’ve a heat spot in my coronary heart for TikTok, as a result of I received youth by 34 factors,” he mentioned.
“There are those who say that TikTok has one thing to do with that. TikTok had an impression.”
A majority of 18 to 29-year-olds backed Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in November, however the vote did see a major swing in direction of Trump amongst younger voters because the 2020 election.
Trump only joined TikTok in June, however gained tens of millions of followers on the platform over the course of the marketing campaign.
