TikTok ban drama marks time as it revels in inauguration honor

Reports that TikTok chief Chew Shou Zi will sit in a position of honor alongside Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos at Donald Trump's inauguration today are eye-catching.

This could not be incidental as it seems the prime minister of America's long-time ally, Britain, has not been sent an invitation.

The open snub of Keir Starmer has generated a storm in British political circles.

Apparently, TikTok has risen from something that American politicians wanted to trash into something they now treasure.

But make no mistake - it is not the status quo they want to preserve but, rather, a spin-off from TikTok's China-based parent ByteDance.

Speculation that Beijing might agree to sell it to Musk could just be a trial balloon.

On Friday, TikTok's legal fight to keep the status quo - thus operating as ByteDance's overseas arm - came to its ultimate end with the US Supreme Court upholding the decision that it must either be sold to a third party or banned in the US.

The Supreme Court's decision was not unexpected but what followed was interesting as thousands of TikTok users fled to Xiaohongshu, which is known in the West as RedNote. For those depending on TikTok for making a living or promoting their small businesses, a TikTok shutdown could be devastating.

The rush to Xiaohongshu could also pose a challenge for China's state censors, who find themselves having to handle a sudden surge in English-language posts.

Nonetheless, nothing could be more ironic than what is happening in Washington right now.

Eyebrows were raised when Joe Biden suddenly showed a change of heart, with a White House spokeswoman saying: "This administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next administration."

So if Biden were to be blamed for signing the law, Trump would be accused of enforcing it.

The spokeswoman probably made a stupid mistake as she is fully aware that Biden's term ends at midday today - more than a day after the ban took effect.

Why the last-minute fuss? With 170 million Americans using TikTok every month, the Democrats would be remembered for banning the app.

If implemented by Biden, the Democrats would offend young voters and suffer in the mid-terms and the next presidential elections.

But TikTok did Trump a small favor by switching itself off shortly before midnight.

It also included a message to users saying: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now [due to a] law banning TikTok" before going on to say: "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office."

The last-minute episodes were full of political calculation. Chew's acceptance of the seating invitation is symbolic - but he should not be happy too soon.

While Trump is expected to grant TikTok a 90-day extension, the maximum allowed by law, ByteDance still has to decide whether to sell it to a third party or accept the ban. Who will buy it? Besides Musk, could it be Softbank bearing in mind that Softbank chairman Masayoshi Son showed up cheerfully in Mar-a-Lago?