Trump lends support to TikTok amid potential US ban

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has lent his support to TikTok even after current president Joe Biden signed a bill that could potentially lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.

During an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Trump expressed his support for TikTok, saying that competition is needed and that people will be left with only Facebook and Instagram if they don't have access to TikTok. Meanwhile, he expressed he was still upset after being banned from Facebook and Instagram in 2021.

Trump even threatened that he would have Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thrown in jail if he were to return to the White House, according to the interview.

Back in March, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of the app, or a face a ban.  The Bill was passed 352-65, with bipartisan support, according to Reuters. However, it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate, where some favour a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps posting security concerns. 

During the time, Trump described TikTok as a national security threat, and said that banning the app would harm some young users and only serve to strengthen Meta's Facebook.

His stance changed after he joined TikTok last month. His account has since gained nine million followers and 21.8m likes, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw. In one of his TikTok videos, Trump said, “I’m gonna save TikTok”.

When asked why he had changed his stance on TikTok, Trump said in the interview that he never actually stated he wanted to ban it. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to TikTok for a statement. 

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Back in January 2021, Meta blocked Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for policy violations, following violent protests in Washington D.C. which saw a mob of Trump supporters storming Capitol Hill to challenge Biden’s election win. Meanwhile, Meta has recently lifted the final restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the run-up to the US presidential elections.

During his tenure in 2020, Trump said he contemplated banning the app in the US over data privacy concerns. According to SCMP, White House adviser Peter Navarro said Trump was expected to take "strong action" on Chinese-owned social media apps for "engaging in information warfare"

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