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 accomplice CBS Information reported, citing sources aware of the assembly.
A legislation handed earlier this yr means TikTok shall be banned except it’s offered by its Chinese language dad or mum firm, ByteDance, earlier than 19 January.
The corporate has made an emergency software to the US Supreme Courtroom to have the ban delayed.
The US needs TikTok offered or banned due to alleged hyperlinks between ByteDance and the Chinese language state, hyperlinks that each TikTok and ByteDance have at all times denied.
The invoice introducing the legislation stated it was meant to “defend the nationwide safety of the US from the risk posed by international adversary managed purposes”.
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, nonetheless, 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 Courtroom, submitted on Monday, TikTok requested for a “modest delay” to the enforcement of the ban to “create respiratory room” for a evaluate by the Courtroom 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 stated the ban would do “fast 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 court docket, which discovered that the legislation was the “end result of in depth, bipartisan motion by the Congress and by successive presidents”.
At a press convention on Monday, Trump stated his administration would “check out TikTok”.
“I’ve a heat spot in my coronary heart for TikTok, as a result of I gained youth by 34 factors,” he stated.
“There are people who say that TikTok has one thing to do with that. TikTok had an affect.”
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 the direction of Trump amongst younger voters because the 2020 election.
Trump only joined TikTok in June, however gained hundreds of thousands of followers on the platform over the course of the marketing campaign.
