TikTok bans advertising account for 'Musk' documentary
What's the story
Ahead of the wider release of Alex Gibney's highly anticipated documentary on Elon Musk, TikTok took a controversial decision to ban the film's social media account. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bleecker Street, the film's distributor, was notified on Friday afternoon about an impending "permanent suspension." Banning the documentary's account marks a significant escalation in the ongoing saga. Shortly before its removal, the account urged people to watch the film "before it gets shut down."
Suspension rationale
The reason behind the ban
TikTok has claimed that the account was banned due to "the level of severity with political-policy violations" it allegedly committed.
The platform also noted that "some violations trigger immediate suspension," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Notably, the documentary takes a critical look at Musk. It debuted in just four theaters last weekend and is now expanding to more locations.
The documentary also expected to stream on HBO next year.
Ad bans
Major social media platforms banned ads for the documentary
Last month, major social media platforms including YouTube, Meta, X, and TikTok were criticized for banning ads promoting the Musk documentary.
While YouTube and Google quickly reversed their decisions calling it an "error," TikTok and X have remained firm in their refusal to allow paid advertisements for the film.
Policy enforcement
TikTok's rules regarding political content
TikTok has special rules for "political TikTok accounts" under its Civic and Election Integrity guidelines, but these don't seem to apply to arts-related content.
The platform prohibits paid political advertising and the Musk film account was allegedly using it for promotion.
However, it's still unclear if or how this violates TikTok's stated rules as the supposed rule violation wasn't explicitly laid out by the platform.
Ownership influence
Oracle's connection to the film and TikTok
Oracle, a company largely controlled by co-founder, CTO, and executive chairman Larry Ellison, owns 15% of the consortium that controls TikTok's US operation.
Ellison appears in the film via a text message offering to help Musk fund his Twitter purchase.
Interestingly enough, HBO has had a deal to distribute the film since 2023, and David Ellison, the son of Larry, is Skydance's chairman and CEO. Skydance now officially own HBO.