ByteDance reacts to Elon Musk’s alleged move to buy out US operations of TikTok

Chinese company, ByteDance has reacted to news making the rounds that billionaire businessman Elon Musk is allegedly making moves to buy out the US operations of TikTok.

Per a report by Bloomberg, Chinese government is mulling the idea of selling the social media platform which faces an impending ban in the US.

However, Chinese government officials prefer that the social media  platform, which US Federal officials have described as a “national-security threat of immense depth and scale” remains in the hands of its parent company ByteDance.

READ ALSO: ByteDance plans $2bn investment in Malaysia to develop AI infrastructure

However, ByteDance has played down Elon Musk’s potential takeover while reacting to the report which will potentially place the tech billionaire in an unprecedented position of owning X (formerly Twitter) and also overseeing the American operations of TikTok.

“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” the company told CNBC.

ByteDance has also announced that it will stick to plans stop operations in the United States of America on January 19, 2025.

The social media platform said it is not going back on shutting off in the Unites States Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court can strike down or delay the implementation of a law intended to force the sale of the company to an American buyer.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now