In his first statement since the Supreme Court on Sunday upheld a law that could ban TikTok from the U.S., TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew did not reveal what would happen to the app in just days What. Instead, he took the opportunity to appeal to President-elect Donald Trump.
"I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find solutions that will keep TikTok available in the United States," Chew said in a video on the platform. "We're grateful and excited to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform - who uses TikTok to express his thoughts and opinions, connect with the world, and generate more than 60 billion content views in the process quantity. "
When discussing Trump's views on TikTok, Zhou spoke his language. After all, the incoming president is known for keeping a close eye on TV ratings, and he recently declared a "passion" for TikTok after seeing the role it played in his campaign. It was TikTok's most public move to curry favor with Trump before he took over the Oval Office on Monday, one day after the ban took effect, but Zhou has already visited him at Mar-a-Lago and plans to attend his event with several people Inauguration ceremony. CEOs of other technology companies.
Trump has previously announced his intention to save TikTok, but did not reveal how he would save it. He asked for the public's "respect" after Friday's Supreme Court ruling, saying, "I will make a decision on TikTok in the near future, but I must have time to review the situation." Earlier on Friday, he said , he has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok and other issues, calling it a "very good" call.
Chew's statement seems to indicate that TikTok believes that attracting Trump is now its most promising path to maintaining survival in the United States. Even so, Trump's options are limited. If he can achieve this, the most effective path would be to somehow broker a deal that would allow ByteDance (with China's permission) to sell TikTok and comply with the law's divestment requirements. Otherwise, he could direct his Justice Department not to enforce the ban, possibly through an executive order, but that might not be enough to reassure companies like Apple, Google and Oracle that they won't risk serious penalties by continuing to provide services for TikTok.
Meanwhile, we still don’t know how TikTok itself will respond to the impending ban, which is set to take effect the day before Trump is sworn in. The company reportedly plans to shut down in the U.S. in this case. "Rest assured, we will do everything we can to ensure our platform thrives and becomes your online home, providing boundless creativity and discovery, and a source of inspiration and joy for years to come," Chew said. "There will be more."