TikTok has banned the entire Musk film account, citing political content that violates its policies. The move, which comes just as the Alex Gibney’s investigation into Elon Musk expands to more than 470 screens across North America, raises concerns about Big Tech suppression that the very film seeks to expose.
Distributor Bleecker Street was informed Friday afternoon a “permanent suspension” was coming. The entire page disappeared from TikTok’s platform shortly after. The film company had been planning to spend ad money to boost certain posts; that will no longer happen.
A spokesperson for the distributor confirmed that TikTok reps had informed them of the suspension and noted “disappointment” in the timing. After grossing $70,000 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles in its first weekend of release, Musk is now playing in dozens of cities this weekend. The spokesperson said the company is in the process of appealing the move; even a reversal, however, could still prove costly if it doesn’t come during a weekend window when many people are likely to see the film.
A TikTok representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk goes deep on a number of its subject’s actions and companies, which Gibney spent more than three years investigating. The film devotes a large portion of its second half focusing on Musk’s political activities with DOGE and beyond. It also centers on his acquisition of Twitter, which Gibney suggests was done to control the digital public square, adding an element of potency and irony to the TikTok move.
An official message from the company to Bleecker Street noted a “level of severity with political-policy violations” and said that “some violations trigger immediate suspension.”
It was unclear, however, what those violations were. Bleecker Street had just posted two new pieces of content before the suspension came. In one, a cheeky ad about what to do during intermission of the nearly four-hour doc, on-screen text suggested deleting your X account, “chat about a fascist hellscape” and “”switch your seats if they are too far to the right.”
A second post suggested seeing the movie “before it gets shut down,” adding a further element of irony to the social ban.
The Musk TikTok account account has garnered more than 10,000 followers since going live, an uncommonly high number for an individual documentary.
TikTok has no official affiliation with Elon Musk, though it is partly owned by Larry Ellison, who gets a rough moment in the doc when a text from him offering to pay billions to the mogul to help finance his Twitter acquisition is shown. TikTok has been more resistant to Musk content than some of its competitors, refusing to reverse its position again accepting an ad for the trailer even after Meta and Google/YouTube did just that. X, of course, been unwilling to accept any advertising for the film.
Larry’s son David is set to release Gibney’s doc when his newly acquired HBO, which financed the film, puts in on the platform in 2027.