Bangkok, Jan 14 (EFE).- TikTok dismissed reports on Tuesday that Chinese authorities are considering selling its US operations to Elon Musk to avoid a ban in the United States, calling the claim “pure fiction.”
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told EFE from the company’s Singapore office.
Bloomberg reported that the Chinese government is exploring a potential deal with Musk as a contingency plan if TikTok fails to avert a Supreme Court-backed US shutdown.
TikTok’s US operations face a Jan. 19 deadline to sever ties with parent company ByteDance, as mandated by a bipartisan law passed by Congress last April.
The regulation, aimed at addressing national security concerns, gives the Chinese company nine months to find a non-adversarial foreign investor to take over its American operations.
Failure to do so could lead to a full shutdown of TikTok in the US.
Lawmakers in Washington have argued that TikTok poses a national security threat, claiming the Chinese government could access sensitive user data through ByteDance.
The deadline for TikTok’s potential shutdown falls just one day before Donald Trump is set to return to office on Jan. 20.
During his first term, Trump attempted to ban TikTok but faced legal hurdles. This time, however, he has asked the US Supreme Court to freeze the law’s enforcement until he is back in the White House, vowing to “save TikTok” as part of his campaign promises.
The Bloomberg report has sparked speculation due to Musk’s ties with both Trump and China.
While Musk has business interests in China, particularly through his Tesla factory in Shanghai, he has publicly opposed banning TikTok in the US, arguing that it would undermine freedom of speech.
“TikTok should not be banned in the United States,” Musk said in April 2024, adding that such a move would contradict American values.
China, meanwhile, holds a “golden share” in ByteDance, granting veto rights over major decisions, which could complicate any potential sale to non-Chinese investors. EFE
pav-vec-sk