New York Times: TikTok CEO to attend Trump inauguration

The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, plans to attend the inauguration ceremony of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, on January 20, Agenzia Nova reports. 

The “New York Times” reports this based on confidential sources, according to which the invitation was extended by the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee.

Shou Zi Chew, the sources add, would attend the ceremony from a privileged area, usually reserved for former presidents, family members and dignitaries.

Other tech industry magnates will also attend the event, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk; and Amazon Group founder and chairman Jeff Bezos. The presence of TikTok's CEO at the ceremony has not yet been confirmed by the company, owned by Chinese ByteDance.

The report comes amid the difficulties faced by TikTok in the United States, where the platform could be banned next Sunday under a law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in light of national security concerns. However, anonymous sources told the “Washington Post” that Trump is considering several options to “save” the platform, including signing an executive order to suspend the law’s implementation “for two to three months.”

Last month, the president-elect said he had “a soft spot” for TikTok, citing the platform’s popularity among young people, which he said was “key” to his victory over Kamala Harris in November.

As previously reported, there are only a couple of days left until looming TikTok ban in the U.S. slated for January 19.

Millions of TikTok users have already turned their attention to the Chinese app RedNote which was downloaded by over 700,000 Americans in the past week.