- Us Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reiterates in an interview that he has no plans to ban TikTok.
- Hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will put TikTok’s fate in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
OUR TAKE
Trump joins TikTok on June 1, and within four hours of opening the account, it has more than 400,000 followers, surpassing Biden, who opens the account four months earlier. Trump campaign also proudly releases a “war report” at the time, saying that without any warning, Trump’s TikTok followers quickly break the record, and his account has more video views than Biden’s account 12 hours later, and the account has 10 times the number of followers. Trump campaign says that they won’t miss a fight on any front to appeal to young voters.
–Zora Lin, BTW reporter
What happened
Us Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reiterated in an interview that he has no plans to ban TikTok, but will support TikTok because banning it will only benefit Mark Zuckerberg.
Trump has said he doesn’t want to hurt American tech companies and will favor domestic companies over foreign ones, with one exception: TikTok.
“I support TikTok because it needs competition. If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram, and this is Zuckerberg’s product.” Trump says in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published Tuesday. For Trump, having to use only Zuckerberg’s products is an outcome he can’t live with.
Trump previously calls TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, a threat, but he joins TikTok last month.
The hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will put TikTok’s fate in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
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Why it’s important
Trump reiterates that he has no plans to ban TikTok, but instead supports its existence and promotes competition. This statement will affect the market’s expectations for TikTok’s future, especially in terms of government regulation.
Mr. Trump’s approach to TikTok, an attempt to use it as a counterbalance to Facebook and Instagram, demonstrates his business ambitions and reflects the complex interplay between technology companies, government regulation and global markets in the digital economy.
TikTok’s case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will take place in the final weeks before the 2024 presidential election. The timing could make TikTok an important issue during the election, reflecting the growing influence of technology and data security in political debates.
