TikTok has banned the official social media account promoting Alex Gibney’s documentary about Elon Musk just ahead of the film’s wider release, escalating tensions over how major technology platforms are handling its promotion.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s distributor, Bleecker Street, was informed on Friday afternoon that the account faced a “permanent suspension.” TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Bleecker Street had not publicly responded to a request for comment from The Verge at the time of reporting.
Although TikTok has no official affiliation with Musk, its part-owner Larry Ellison appears in the documentary through a text message offering to help Musk finance his purchase of Twitter, which he later renamed X.
The account ban follows controversy last month when YouTube, Meta, X, and TikTok faced criticism for initially rejecting advertisements promoting the documentary. YouTube and Google subsequently reversed their decisions, describing the rejections as an “error.” TikTok and X, however, have maintained their positions and have not allowed paid advertisements for the film.
Removing the documentary’s account goes beyond the earlier advertising restrictions, raising further questions about how social media platforms handle controversial content involving powerful technology executives. The decision also carries a touch of irony: shortly before the account was taken down, it encouraged people to watch the film “before it gets shut down.”
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