The Chinese government is contemplating a proposal that would see Elon Musk purchase TikTok’s U.S. business in order to prevent the app from being effectively banned, according to a report by Bloomberg News on Monday.
TakeAway Points:
- The Chinese government is evaluating a plan for Elon Musk to buy TikTok’s U.S. division.
- As the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to uphold a statute that may essentially ban TikTok in the U.S., China is considering a number of possibilities, including the contingency plan, according to the article.
- A TikTok spokesperson said in an email, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
- The European Union is thinking of broadening its probe into whether Elon Musk’s social networking platform X violated its content moderation guidelines, citing the bloc’s head of tech policy.
China considers selling TikTok U.S. operations to Musk
The contingency plan is one of several options China is exploring as the U.S. Supreme Court determines whether to uphold a law that calls for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business by Jan. 19, the report said, citing anonymous sources.
After that deadline, third-party Internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok’s operations in the country.
Under the plan, Musk would oversee both X, which he currently owns, and TikTok’s U.S. business, Bloomberg said. However, Chinese government officials haven’t yet decided on whether it would proceed, the report said, noting that the plan is still preliminary.
It’s unclear whether ByteDance knows about the Chinese government’s plans and TikTok and Musk’s involvement in the discussions, the report said. Senior Chinese officials are debating contingency plans involving TikTok’s future in the U.S. as part of larger discussions about working with President-elect Donald Trump, the report added.
A TikTok spokesperson said in an email, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
Arguments about TikTok banning
Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments about the law potentially banning TikTok, which President Joe 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.
With the Supreme Court appearing to side with the government, TikTok could turn to Trump when his second term begins on Jan. 20. Trump, who favored a TikTok ban during his first administration, has since flip-flopped on the matter. Late last month, he urged the Supreme Court to intervene and forcibly delay implementation of Biden’s ban to give him time to find a “political resolution.”
Trump’s rhetoric on TikTok began to turn after he met in February with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor and a major investor in ByteDance who also owns a stake in the owner of Truth Social, Trump’s social media company.
EU considers expanding probe into Musk’s X
The European Union is considering expanding its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media network X breached its content moderation rulebook, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing the bloc’s tech policy chief.
The EU started investigating X, formerly Twitter, in late 2023 over suspected breaches of obligations, partly relating to posts following Hamas’ attacks on Israel, its first probe under the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA.
“We are currently assessing if the scope is large enough,” European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen told Bloomberg TV when asked about the ongoing X probe.
The bloc’s scrutiny into the social media platform increased in recent months as Musk, now an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, started endorsing far-right personalities such as chancellor candidate Alice Weidel from the Alternative for Germany party ahead of the country’s Feb. 23 snap elections, according to Bloomberg.
The commission is examining whether a live-streamed conversation between Musk and Weidel on X last week was unfairly boosted to give a political candidate an advantage, in violation of the DSA, the report said.
In July, EU tech regulators ruled that X breached European Union online content rules and its blue checkmark deceives users, which led to Musk saying that he looked forward to a “very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”
The charges by the European Commission, the first issued under the DSA, followed a seven-month-long investigation. The rules require very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security.
