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TikTok ban is only good for tech billionaires, says Linktree VP

The Australian 'link in bio' unicorn, last valued at $1.3 billion, would feel the impact if a US TikTok ban ultimately goes through.

Daniel Van Boom
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Lara Cohen, the US-based senior VP of marketing for Linktree, said the government "did not consider the implications" of a ban. Linktree.

A senior Linktree executive has criticised the US government’s approach to banning TikTok, arguing that proposals to sell or shut down the platform could entrench the dominance of powerful tech billionaires.

“The US government did not consider the implications, the downstream effects, of banning it wholeheartedly,” said Lara Cohen, Linktree’s senior vice president of marketing, creators and business development.

Cohen, who is based in California, joined Linktree last April as part of the Australian unicorn’s strategy to expand in the US market. Previously, she served as a vice president at Twitter before Elon Musk’s takeover. While ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has rejected media reports that Musk is a potential buyer, Cohen believes such a scenario is possible.

"It's not out of the question," she said during an interview with Capital Brief on Friday. "I do think that with all of these execs are cozying up to Trump, the give and take here is that you do get special treatment."