As TikTok is considered a potential target for a ban in the United States, President-elect Donald Trump has come forward to defend the platform.
On Sunday, at the America Fest Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump commented on the significant reach of his campaign on TikTok, noting that with billions of views, it might be worthwhile to reconsider the previous stance on the platform. He mentioned, “Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while.” He had previously emphasized the platform’s importance during his election campaign, highlighting that they garnered billions of views on TikTok.
Last week, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In a subsequent press conference, he expressed his “warm spot” for TikTok.
During this year’s election campaign, Trump established a TikTok channel to engage with younger voters, amassing 14 million followers. He also emphasized on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Americans who want to “save TikTok” should vote for him.
TikTok’s controversy stems from national security concerns over its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. In April, the U.S. Senate passed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban.
The legislation, “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” stipulates that if ByteDance fails to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, the service will be terminated in the country. The law, which will take effect in January, gives ByteDance six months to sell TikTok. If the sale doesn’t occur, the app will become unavailable for download in the U.S.
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