TikTok has refuted rumors that the company was going to sell its US business to billionaire Elon Musk.
The statement comes after news agency Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were exploring an option where the ByteDance-owned platform’s business in the US could be sold to X Corp owner Musk if the US Supreme Court upholds a ban on the app.
Why the rumours?
The Joe Biden administration had passed a law last year, according to which ByteDance could either sell the platform’s US business or face a ban. The law comes into effect on January 19, a day before Donald Trump takes over as US president. Musk is a close ally of Trump.
Trump has opposed the ban – despite supporting one during his first term.
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After that deadline, internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok’s operations in the country.
TikTok, meanwhile, has maintained that it will not sell its US operations.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson said.
The report estimated the value of TikTok’s US operations at between $40 and $50 billion.
The court hearings
Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments about the law, which Biden signed in April. TikTok’s legal team argued that the law violates the free-speech rights of the millions of users in the U.S. while the U.S. government said that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk.
