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A special guest
Guess who’s coming to President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20? TikTok CEO Shou Chew has an invite, that’s at least according to sources speaking to NBC News.
If Chew attends the ceremony and festivities, he’ll also likely have some sit-down talks with Trump about the future of the platform. Chew’s arrival a day after the ban takes effect might be problematic but then there is a chance that President Joe Biden might issue an exec order stay of execution as he’s walking out the White House doors.
It’s a lot of moving pieces and it’s still unclear what Trump’s invite means and how he really views TikTok. He may still demand a sale to a US company but just give TikTok more time to do it.
A Beast enters the arena
YouTube showman and over-caffeinated philanthropist Mr. Beast (real name James Stephen Donaldson) has produced several TikToks this week saying that he is buying TikTok. The YouTuber is well known for stunts and this may simply be another one.
As I noted earlier ByteDance has never put the platform up for sale but Donaldson appears undaunted.
@mrbeast
♬ original sound – MrBeast
Things we can’t control
I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to get someone at TikTok to go on the record about what’s about to happen and how the US-based team is preparing. No one is ready to talk.
I did, however, attend a TikTok cocktail party after a TikTok 5th annual What’s Next Trend Report session at CES 2025. As I hobnobbed with various TikTok execs, they all expressed the same mood: this is beyond our control. They were cheerful, weirdly positive, and focused on the future, as uncertain as it is.
Most like to focus on the current and continuing positive impact Tiktok has had on countless businesses, from startups to long-established ones. They have plans for them and are still building tools to support them.
As Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing for TikTok said in a release, “In 2024, we saw brands push creative limits, lean into trends, and connect with their communities in powerful ways, but 2025 is set to take it even further.”
I wonder if any are sending frantic notes to ByteDance headquarters begging them to sell the company (ByteDance has always said it has no interest in a sale) but none of that anxiety was in evidence that evening. They’re just doing what they can now and will react to the changes if and when they come.
Kind of like the 150 million US-based TikTok users
#TikTokRefugees
TikTok refugees are already planting flags on what they think are safer shores. Many have joined RedNote, another Chinese app that shares many of TikTok’s features, but adds in Chinese language controls and content for good measure.
I wrote about the phenomenon here and have since counseled many that, while this app looks like fun, it has even less chance of surviving than TikTok. As a true Chinese app, it has none of TikTok’s US data protections. The same goes for Lemon8, which is also owned by TikTok but does not necessarily run in the US.
For the moment, TikTokers seems reluctant to move over to US-based options like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. They may soon have no choice, though.
Biden as rescuer?
Because TikTok’s ban is set to take effect on January 19th, the final day of President Joe Biden’s term and a day before President Trump takes office, there’s been some confusion (and maybe concern) about which US leader would have the final say.
Trump has recently signaled he might be in favor of keeping TikTok alive in the US. Biden hasn’t said much recently about the issue, but now his administration is signaling, if not a change of heart, an interest in a slightly different ban scenario.
According to a report on NBC News, Biden’s office might no longer want TikTok to go dark on the 19th. There may be an interest in deferring the final decision to Trump when he takes office.
The report, however, then all but scuttles that hope, quoting one official who told them, “We are not considering deferring enforcement…Statutorily, we don’t believe we have the authority to do that.”
In other words, no one knows what’s going to happen on Sunday.
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