A TikTok advertising account for 'Musk', a documentary about Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was reinstated after being permanently suspended. TikTok blocked the ads for violating its political content policy, but later reversed the move after acknowledging an error.

On Oct. 18, IT outlet Engadget reported that TikTok permanently suspended the advertising account of film distributor Bleecker Street. TikTok said the account repeatedly violated its policies on political content. The distributor said it would appeal after the ads were blocked as it expanded the film’s theatrical release across the United States.

TikTok later changed its position that afternoon. A spokesperson for TikTok’s U.S. unit said the suspension was the result of an error and that the advertising account had been restored. Resuming ads is allowed on condition that TikTok’s policies are followed. TikTok did not disclose specifically which posts were flagged as problematic. The measure did not ban the film’s screening itself.

'Musk', directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, is about 4 hours long and takes a critical look at Musk’s career and political influence as he grew Tesla and SpaceX. Musk did not take part in the production through interviews and has publicly pushed back against the film.

The film opened in limited release on Oct. 9 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles and made about $69,000, or about 92,135,700 won, in its first weekend. It expanded to 472 theaters in North America from Oct. 16. The advertising account suspension also became known around that time.

The film also faced difficulties running ads on other social media platforms. Meta and YouTube initially rejected trailer ads and later allowed them, and Meta said its initial decision was a mistake. X, formerly Twitter and owned by Musk, was reported to have rejected ads for the film.

The episode highlighted debate over how platform advertising policies should be applied to documentaries about political figures. There was no confirmed evidence that TikTok intentionally sought to block criticism of Musk.