These are wildly uncertain times for TikTok — and things don't appear to be getting any less complicated. Facing a losing Supreme Court decision and looming ban, TikTok CEO Shou Chew put out a statement praising President-elect Donald Trump in an extremely thinly veiled effort to sway the incoming commander-in-chief.
The U.S. Supreme Court released its decision upholding the ban on Friday. With reports that outgoing President Joe Biden won't enforce the ban, that leaves the decision in Trump's completely normal-sized hands. Chew released a response to the decision on TikTok's channels on Friday. It was all but a personal plea to the incoming president.
"I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he said. "This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship."
Chew added: "We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform — one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process."
Trump famously loves to be flattered, so it is perhaps a winning strategy from Chew. In fact, Chew reportedly plans to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday. He's far from the only tech bigwig who'll be in attendance. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and X's Elon Musk are all reportedly planning to show up.
TikTok's future, and the futures of its many users, still remains uncertain, but perhaps Chew can turn the tides.
