US President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, as the company faces a possible ban in the United States. The meeting took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to US media reports.
A law passed earlier this year says TikTok must be sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 19 or it will be banned in the US. The US government says TikTok has links to the Chinese government, something TikTok and ByteDance have repeatedly denied.
TikTok has now asked the US Supreme Court to delay the ban. The company says it needs more time to allow the Court to review the case and for the next government to look into the issue.
In its request, TikTok called itself “one of the most important platforms for free speech” in the US and said the ban would cause serious harm to the company and its millions of users.
During his first term as president, Trump supported banning TikTok. However, he now opposes the ban because he believes it could benefit Facebook, a company he has accused of playing a role in his 2020 election loss.
Trump’s second term, if confirmed, will not begin until January 20, one day after TikTok’s deadline to either sell the app or face a ban.
Earlier this month, TikTok lost a challenge in a federal appeals court to stop the ban. The court said the law was the result of bipartisan efforts by US lawmakers and presidents to protect national security.
Now, TikTok is hoping for a delay to avoid the ban and continue serving its users in the US.
