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TikTok bans ad account for Elon Musk documentary after 'repeated pattern of political content'

The documentary's distributor was told a permanent suspension was imminent, though TikTok later restored the account after what it called an error.

NewsJaws DeskEditorial desk

Published 18 Oct 2026, 18:51 BST2 min read

Close-up of a phone screen with the TikTok app icon and label in sharp focus among blurred app icons. — File photo: the TikTok app icon displayed on a mobile phone screen. TikTok app — Solen Feyissa (resized and converted to WebP). CC BY-SA 2.0.Image source Image licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

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TikTok banned the advertising account behind the Elon Musk documentary from Alex Gibney, a move first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The social media platform attributed the ban to a “repeated pattern of political content that violates its policies,” according to that report.

The film’s distributor, Bleecker Street, was informed on Friday afternoon that a “permanent suspension” was imminent, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bleecker Street told THR it would appeal the decision and attempt to get it reversed. When The Verge first reported the ban, TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in an 18 October update, a TikTok US spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the ad account for the Musk documentary had “been restored after an error.”

The nearly four-hour film had a limited opening on 9 October in four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles, grossing around $70,000 in its opening weekend. Showings expanded to many more US cinemas on 16 October. Shortly before the account was removed, it posted that people should see the film “before it gets shut down.”

Meta and YouTube initially rejected ads for the documentary's trailer but later allowed them; Meta blamed “an error” and YouTube said it had been “cleared to run.” X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, has previously refused to run the documentary's trailer, according to an earlier Hollywood Reporter report. The Verge reported that TikTok and X had refused to change their stance and that neither platform had allowed paid advertisements for the film.

TikTok’s US operations are partly owned by Larry Ellison — who, like Musk, has been a notable supporter of President Donald Trump. Ellison appears in the film via a text message offering to help Musk fund his Twitter purchase. Gibney has confirmed that the film's international distributor Universal had wavered over its release plans but is now moving forward. The documentary is due to stream on HBO next year; HBO is now part of Paramount/Skydance, led by Larry Ellison's son David.