TikTok suspends a commercial account for a movie criticizing Elon Musk before retracting the decision

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The TikTok application temporarily suspended the advertising account for a documentary film criticizing American billionaire Elon Musk, in a move that raised questions about freedom of expression and the policies of digital platforms in dealing with political content, before the company announced the lifting of restrictions on the account, confirming that the suspension occurred by mistake.

The British newspaper "Telegraph" reported that the American branch of TikTok, owned by tech billionaire Larry Ellison along with a group of American investors, suspended the advertising account for the movie "Mus", an investigative documentary that deals with Musk's life and his rise to the list of the richest people in the world.

The decision came over the weekend, at a sensitive time for the promotional campaign for the film, which began showing in more than 470 cinemas in North America.

Bleecker Street, the film's distributor, was notified on Friday that its ad account was facing a "permanent suspension," preventing it from being able to purchase ads through the platform, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But a TikTok spokesperson said on Sunday evening that the restrictions had been lifted, explaining that the account suspension was the result of an error. He added that the account is now in good standing, and that the company has regained its ability to publish ads that comply with the platform's policies.

The film follows Musk's journey from the Internet boom in the 1990s to his rise to the top of the list of the world's richest people.

It also addresses his relationship with US President Donald Trump, including his becoming the largest donor to his 2024 election campaign, before his subsequent appointment to head the Government Efficiency Administration created by Trump.

The film's director, Alex Gibney, known for his documentary work on controversial figures and issues, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and the collapse of Enron, said some people were reluctant to participate in the film because of what he described as an "almost existential fear" of the potential consequences.

Musk responded to the film with sharp criticism, describing Gibney as a “grumpy old man” and accusing him of seeking to produce the most offensive and convincing work in discrediting it, as he put it.

The suspension of the advertising account came after lengthy correspondence between representatives of Bleecker Street and TikTok. The platform had previously banned the account from publishing posts related to the film due to its political content, including the promotional clip.

The company reportedly warned the distributor of a “level of risk in violations of political policies,” without clarifying the nature of the alleged violations.

A TikTok spokesperson confirmed that the platform does not allow political ads.

TikTok does not have an official declared relationship with Musk, but Ellison appears in the film. In one of its scenes, the documentary shows a text message Ellison sent to Musk offering to contribute billions of dollars to help him buy the Twitter platform, which Musk later renamed “X.”