The Chinese authorities are evaluating the acquisition by Elon Musk, owner of X and who will be part of Donald Trump’s Administration, of TikTok’s operations in the United States as a “possible option.” Bloomberg’s publication has provoked an immediate reaction from the social network, which has described as “pure fiction” that the Chinese authorities are planning its sale to the South African tycoon.
“We cannot be expected to comment on something that is pure fiction,” says the brief comment sent to several media outlets by a spokesperson for TikTok, which has one of its headquarters in Singapore.
This possibility arises, according to Bloomberg, which cites sources close to the case, if TikTok fails to avoid its ban in the United States, while waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether to support the law that can close the social network in the country if not. separates from its parent company, ByteDance, before January 19, as stipulated by law.
The deadline to find a new investor is over
The regulation, approved by the US Congress last April by Democrats and Republicans, gave the Chinese company ByteDance nine months to find an investor from a country that is not considered an ‘adversary’ of the United States. US lawmakers justified their decision by arguing that the platform represents a threat to national security due to the possibility of the Chinese government accessing user data.
For its part, China has on several occasions criticized the “repression” against TikTok by the US, ensuring that it is “an intimidating tactic” that will end up “turning against” the North American country. The shutdown of TikTok in the United States could come just one day before Trump returns to the presidency on January 20.
Trump, in favor of TikTok in the United States
Although in his first term (2017-2021) the Republican tried to ban the social network, on this occasion he asked the US Supreme Court to paralyze the entry into force of the law until he was in the presidency after promising in the campaign that “would save TikTok.” Musk, who has become one of Trump’s closest allies, has important interests in China, where his company Tesla’s main global production base is located.
The tycoon already defended last April that “TikTok should not be banned in the United States. (…) Doing so would go against freedom of expression, and that is not what the United States defends. China has a ‘golden share’ in ByteDance that gives it a veto over any decision.
One of TikTok’s lawyers who testified before the Supreme Court last week said that if justice rules against the platform they are willing to close.
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