On March 13th, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk joined the chorus of criticism against the U.S. government's impending ban on the popular short-video app TikTok, following in the footsteps of former President Trump. TikTok enjoys immense popularity among American youth.
In a recent tweet, Musk emphasized, "The issue with this law isn't just about TikTok, it's about control!" He further pointed out, "If it were just about TikTok, it might only mention the issue of 'foreign control', but that's not the case."
Earlier this week, Trump suggested that banning TikTok would benefit Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Trump's own social media app, Truth Social, competes with Instagram.
During an interview, Trump referred to Facebook as the "enemy of the people" and claimed that the ban on TikTok would make the social media giant "even more powerful."
He added, "Without TikTok, Facebook can become stronger, and I think Facebook is the enemy of the people." He also said that fans would be "unhappy" if TikTok were banned.
Additionally, Trump mentioned that Facebook is "not beneficial" for the United States.
On Tuesday, Meta's stock price fell by 4.5%, closing at $484 per share, marking its worst single-day performance in eight months. However, Meta's stock price has risen nearly 30% since the beginning of the year, indicating a strong recovery from the challenges it faced in 2022.
If the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate ultimately pass the bill and turn it into law, ByteDance will be required to sell TikTok within six months, or else the app will be banned from the U.S. market.
