TikTok denies reports China wants to sell app to Elon Musk

TikTok has denied reports that China is considering potentially assisting the sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk to keep TikTok operating in the United States amid a looming U.S. government ban.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that “Chinese officials are evaluating potential options for Elon Musk to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations” if a U.S. law takes effect requiring parent company ByteDance to divest its shares of TikTok or ban the app in the United States. The US Bloomberg report quoted anonymous sources as saying.

“We cannot be expected to comment on content that is pure fiction,” a TikTok representative said in response. typeRequest for comment.

Musk has not yet commented on Bloomberg's TikTok report. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the richest man in the world, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and later renamed it X. Under “one scenario” discussed by the Chinese government, X would “take control of TikTok US and jointly operate the business,” according to Bloomberg. The news outlet noted that “it is unclear whether Musk, TikTok and ByteDance have held any talks on the terms of any possible deal.”

TikTok is in danger of being banned in the United States under a law that will take effect on January 19 unless the Supreme Court issues a ruling preventing it from taking effect.

On Friday, January 10, the Supreme Court heard arguments in TikTok’s emergency appeal seeking to block the law, which TikTok and ByteDance argue violates the First Amendment rights of their 170 million U.S. users. But the judges appeared more inclined to accept the government's position that TikTok poses a national security threat because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing-based ByteDance has not said it is considering selling its roughly 40% stake in TikTok to a U.S.-approved entity or investor group. Meanwhile, Chinese officials have previously said that if ByteDance did try to sell a stake in TikTok, the move would be blocked because it represented a technology export.

Last year, Congress passed “divest or ban” legislation for TikTok with strong bipartisan support and President Biden signed it into law. U.S. lawmakers from both parties have expressed deep concerns about TikTok's Chinese ownership, suggesting the Chinese Communist regime could use the app to spy on Americans or use it to spread pro-China propaganda.

The law – the Apps Protecting Americans from Control by Foreign Adversaries Act – prohibits Apple and Google's app stores and web hosting services from hosting or distributing TikTok in the United States unless ByteDance transfers ownership of the app Sales to any party located in a country that is not designated as a “foreign adversary” of the United States.

President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to suspend the law from taking effect on January 19 so that his administration can pursue “a negotiated solution that would prevent TikTok from being shut down across the country and preserve the lives of millions of people.” Ten Users’ First Amendment Rights.” millions of Americans, while also addressing the government's national security concerns. “During his first term, Trump also tried but failed to force TikTok to be sold to U.S. political parties due to national security concerns.