TikTok just got banned in Canada, under Trump is the US next?
The Canadian government has ordered TikTok to close its operations in the country, citing national security concerns. Canadian users will continue to have access to the app. But when President, will Trump ban TikTok too?
“The government is taking action to address the specific national security risks related to ByteDance Ltd’s operations in Canada through the establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc,” Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” added the Minister.
Will Trump ban TikTok?
A court decision on the future of TikTok in the U.S. is scheduled for prior to December 6th. If it loses on appeal, a Biden administration ban of TikTok will take effect on 19 January.
But Donald Trump takes office on January 20th.
While a vocal China hater, Trump has signaled that he won’t ban TikTok.
“For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump,” the President-elect said in a campaign video on his own Truth Social. “The other side’s closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok… and we’re setting records. We’re not doing anything with TikTok, but the other side’s gonna close it up, so if you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump.”
Facebook, Musk and Live Nation
In addition to being a “big star on TikTok,” Trump is said to see the platform as more friendly to his base than Facebook.
Of course, almost nothing that Donald Trump says can be taken for certain. Also, how X/Twitter owner and Trump BFF Elon Musk views TikTok and might affect any decision is unclear.
For now at least, TikTok execs can share a glass of champagne with the Live Nation/Ticketmaster team. LYV stock jumped yesterday on expectations that a Trump administration is less likely to pursue the existing Department of Justice lawsuit against it.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
