Politics

Trump Rolls Out the Inaugural Red Carpet for TikTok CEO

HIGH HOPES

Shou Zi Chew is reportedly planning to attend Trump’s inauguration—one day after the TikTok ban is scheduled to take effect.

Shou Zi Chew speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Big Tech and and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis."
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The CEO of TikTok was invited to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and is planning to attend. Shou Zi Chew, the Singaporean CEO of the popular vertical video app, will sit at the dais along with other tech leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, to watch Trump get sworn in as the 47th president, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Supreme Court indicated they would likely uphold the law passed by Congress with bipartisan support in April 2024, which attempted to force the app’s Chinese-owned parent company to sell the app. TikTok is reportedly planning to shut down access to the site across the U.S. just one day before Trump’s inauguration. Although Trump also tried to ban the app during his first term in office, the president-elect is now reportedly exploring options to suspend enforcement of the ban, potentially by executive order.

Read it at The New York Times

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.