TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew made headlines by attending Trump’s inauguration after a temporary app ban was lifted, raising eyebrows and questions.
Washington: So, TikTok had a bit of a meltdown on Saturday night. The app just stopped working for about 170 million users in the US. But by Sunday morning, it was back up and running. Talk about a rollercoaster!
The whole thing started because the US government was worried about TikTok’s ties to China. They were thinking about banning it due to concerns over data privacy and propaganda. But TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, says those claims are just not true.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Donald Trump, who was all for banning TikTok back in 2020, suddenly decided to hit the brakes on that idea. He wanted to “save” the app instead. And then, out of the blue, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, shows up at Trump’s inauguration. What a twist!
So, who is this Shou Zi Chew guy? He took over TikTok in 2021 but really became a household name last year when he defended the app in front of US lawmakers. After his appearance at the inauguration, he’s likely to be as well-known as other tech giants like Zuckerberg and Musk.
Chew’s background is pretty humble. Born in Singapore in 1982, he grew up with a construction worker dad and a bookkeeper mom. He went to a fancy school and even served in the military. After studying at some prestigious universities, he interned at Facebook and climbed the tech ladder to become TikTok’s CEO.
Interestingly, even though he’s the head of TikTok, he doesn’t let his kids use the app. He thinks they’re too young for it. Smart move, right?
Now, back to the inauguration. Even though Trump was the one who wanted to ban TikTok, he’s now acting like its protector. Chew even posted a TikTok thanking Trump for trying to keep the app alive in the US. It’s a wild turn of events!
With all this drama, it’s hard to say if TikTok will face a full ban in the future. But one thing’s for sure: the conversation about it is far from over.
