Contributor

Emily Baker-White

Emily Baker-White is a technology reporter at Forbes and author of the book "Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok." A Harvard Law School graduate and former criminal defender, she previously led the Plain View Project, an investigation into police misconduct on Facebook, and covered TikTok for BuzzFeed News.

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Innovation 6 November 2025

How TikTok cozied up to wealthy investors in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

In her new book, Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok, journalist Emily Baker-White charts the Chinese app’s rise to becoming a global juggernaut. Here is an excerpt on the company’s courtship of the Gulf nations ahead of a deal on its U.S. operations.