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Elon Musk defending TikTok's ban resurfaces as the Chinese app denies Bloomberg report

Jan 14, 2025 02:34 PM IST

TikTok refutes a Bloomberg report alleging discussions about selling its US operations to Elon Musk to avoid a ban.

TikTok has dismissed a Bloomberg report claiming that Chinese officials are considering a plan to facilitate the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to Elon Musk.

TikTok rejected claims of a deal with Elon Musk to sell its U.S. operations, citing a Bloomberg report as fiction. (Photo by RYAN COLLERD / AFP)(AFP)
TikTok rejected claims of a deal with Elon Musk to sell its U.S. operations, citing a Bloomberg report as fiction. (Photo by RYAN COLLERD / AFP)(AFP)

The report released on Monday speculated that the deal may have been an attempt to avoid the app to be blocked in the States by a law in the pipeline. Bloomberg anonymously claimed that these conversations included Musk’s company X—the now defunct twitter—potentially acquiring TikTok’s operations in the United States. TikTok representative told Variety Magazine, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”

Tesla boss has earlier defended banning TikTok, saying, “I'm generally against banning things.I mean, it would help Twitter I suppose if TikTok was banned, because then people would spend more time on Twitter and less on TikTok.”

“But even if it would help Twitter, I would be generally against banning things.”

ALSO READ| TikTok being sold to Elon Musk? MrBeast joins the bid: ‘Okay, fine, I’ll buy it’

Can Musk actually buy TikTok's US hand?

The Bloomberg report also claimed that, under one proposed scenario, Musk’s X could take control of TikTok U.S. and integrate it with his other business operations. However, the outlet clarified that it is “unclear whether Musk, TikTok, and ByteDance have held any talks about the terms of any possible deal.”

TikTok faces potential removal from US app stores on January 19 if a law requiring ByteDance to divest its stake is enforced. The Supreme Court is currently considering an emergency appeal from TikTok to block the legislation. ByteDance and TikTok argue that banning the app would violate the First Amendment rights of their 170 million US users.

The US government alleges that TikTok, as a subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance, could be used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage or propaganda purposes. Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act last year, which prohibits TikTok unless ByteDance sells its stake to a non-adversarial party.

ALSO READ| China considering TikTok US sale to Elon Musk if company fails to fend off potential ban: Report

Notably, ByteDance has not indicated any plans to divest its 40% ownership of TikTok, and Chinese officials have previously suggested such a move could be blocked, citing it as a “technology export.”

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