Trump meets with TikTok CEO ahead of impending ban

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday hosted TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to multiple media reports citing sources close to the situation. The meeting came one month before a new law is set to take effect that would ban the social media platform unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells TikTok. President Joe Biden in April signed the legislation that is part of the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act. Lawmakers pushed for the China-based company to sell TikTok over security and censorship concerns.

Does Trump support the ban? The president-elect in March told CNBC that he does not support banning the app because that could give Facebook more power among social media platforms. Trump joined the app in June while on the campaign trail. During his first term in office, Trump tried to ban TikTok through an executive order but his administration delayed the ban when the platform agreed to sell its American operations to a group that included Oracle and Walmart. That deal ultimately dissolved during the Biden administration. In a press conference Monday, Trump said he had a soft spot for the app because he believes his campaign’s work on the platform helped him gain the support of more young voters.

Where does the legal battle stand? The Liberty Justice Center and a group of TikTok creators on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an injunction to stop the ban until the court hears a case challenging the law. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia earlier this month rejected TikTok’s appeal to overturn the measure. The company argued that the law was unconstitutional because it singled out TikTok for legislative punishment. Unless ByteDance sells the platform or a court steps in, the ban will take effect on Jan. 19, one day before Trump is inaugurated.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew on how legislators must weigh free speech against national security in the debate over TikTok.