TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is planning to attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday – even because the China-owned firm makes a last-ditch effort to keep away from a US ban.
Chew is predicted to take a seat alongside tech titans corresponding to Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Prepare dinner and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos throughout the inauguration, a supply conversant in the scenario advised The Publish.
The TikTok boss additionally visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida final month as a part of his bid to avert a ban.
Representatives for TikTok didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The New York Instances was first to report on Chew’s plans.
TikTok is reportedly planning to close down the app fully on Sunday, when a Congressional-imposed deadline for Chinese language mother or father ByteDance to divest its stake passes. Customers shall be redirected to an internet site with particulars on the ban.
Trump – as soon as a vocal critic of TikTok who initially led efforts to dam the app – has just lately mentioned he’s against a ban.
The president-elect is weighing choices to “save” the app, together with doubtlessly implementing an government order upon taking workplace that might stop enforcement of the legislation for 60 to 90 days, the Washington Publish reported. It isn’t at present clear if he would have the authorized foundation to take action.
The Supreme Court docket additionally might intervene on TikTok’s behalf, however to date has signaled help for the legislation. Throughout oral arguments final week, all 9 justices mentioned the nationwide safety issues outlined by the feds outweigh any threat to free speech.
Members of Congress and the Justice Division allege that TikTok is a serious nationwide safety risk that’s beholden to the Chinese language Communist Occasion’s directives, able to secretly manipulating content material through its advice algorithm and conducting mass information assortment corresponding to location-tracking, amongst different dangers.
TikTok has denied wrongdoing and claims the legislation violates the First Modification.
In a memo to staffers on Tuesday, TikTok’s management reassured US workers that they’d preserve their jobs even when there’s a nationwide ban.
“I want to reinforce that as employees in the US, your employment, pay, and benefits are secure, and our offices will remain open, even if this situation hasn’t been resolved before the January 19 deadline,” the memo mentioned, based on The Verge.
“The bill is not written in a way that impacts the entities through which you are employed, only the US user experience,” the memo added.
TikTok’s plan to close down the app fully goes past the scope of the divestment legislation – which requires app retailer operators like Google and Apple to halt new downloads.
The app would have in any other case remained usable for a while, although it might progressively degrade as a result of builders can be unable to implement updates.
As The Publish reported, scorned “TikTok refugees” have flocked to a China-based various app known as RedNote, which specialists warn poses even larger dangers to American customers.
The app’s title in China, Xiaohongshu, interprets to “little red book” – a reference to the notorious propaganda booklets filled with quotes by Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong.
