The video-sharing platform dismisses a report claiming the Chinese government is considering selling to a tech billionaire.
TikTok has dismissed as “pure fiction” a report claiming the Chinese government would consider selling the platform to Elon Musk to avoid a ban in the United States.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Chinese officials were in preliminary talks about the potential sale to avoid a ban that would take effect if Chinese owner ByteDance does not sell its U.S. operations by Jan. 19.
The report, which cites unnamed people familiar with the matter, says one scenario under discussion would involve TikTok merging into Musk’s X social media platform.
Bloomberg said it was unclear how Musk, the world’s richest person with an estimated worth of more than $400 billion, would complete the transaction or whether he would have to sell some of his other assets to complete a deal. sale.
TikTok did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment, but a spokesperson reportedly told the BBC, HuffPost and Variety: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the constitutionality of the looming ban after TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging the related Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act.
During oral arguments Friday, the court appeared inclined to uphold the ban, with the majority of justices appearing unpersuaded by TikTok’s argument that forcing a sale would violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees privacy. freedom of expression.
Outgoing President Joe Biden signed the TikTok bill in April amid bipartisan concerns about alleged national security risks.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers have expressed concern that the platform could be used to harvest Americans’ personal data and manipulate public discourse.
President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is scheduled for January 20, pledged to “save” the platform during his presidential campaign, a reversal from his attempt to ban the app during his first term.
