Posted on 01/13/2025 5:38:27 PM PST by TigerClaws
The Chinese government is considering a plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to keep the app from being effectively banned, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
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 to CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.” X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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
Mu$k and CHY-na are not all that far apart.
Let Trump let us know what he knows.
Like Twitter (X), even if Jesus owned that and TikTok, I wouldn’t use either of them.
Actually, I hope the court lets China keep it. I want them to know kissy as much about me as my own government does. It’s a nice balance.
They are light years apart. Bytedance is beholden to Chinese spy collecting laws, like the Chinese Intelligence Law of 2017 which makes giving data to the government compulsory in real time.
“60% of the company is owned by US and international investors. 20% is owned by the company founders. 20% is owned by company employees, including over 7,000 Americans. The CEO of TikTok is from Singapore, not China.”
I’d like to see China losing control of Tik Tok. If it means Musk owning it - that’s fine. He turned X around. Maybe he can do the same with Tik Tok.
If this happens the leftists will be more off the rails than normal.
But ByteDance may be open to selling the American version of TikTok without the algorithm.
Sounds like China is trying to buy Musk.
Probably lots of strings in the proposed deal.
Musk does not like to surrender control. He has had bad experiences when he has done that.
TikTok is used by those younger than me and it is used profusely by them.
TikTok closure could have major consequences us older people can’t see.
It’s in the best interests of society that there be no disruption of You Tube locking this in on Sunday the day before DJT’s inauguration should raise eyebrows.
The “bipartisan” Congressman and Senators crafted the legislation with that January 19th date in it.
“If it means Musk owning it - that’s fine. He turned X around. Maybe he can do the same with Tik Tok.”
Tik Tok is the highest earning social media app in the world. X keeps losing money.
I said “You Tube” in that post of course I meant “TikTok” the whole thing smells fishy from the start the Supreme Court justices ruling this week might not be so much telling us how they feel about the law as how they feel about President Trump.
In the FWIW column Charlie Kirk repeated the other day that TPUSA had more hits (hundreds of millions) than any other platform they were on, he confessed early on that his group held TikTok in a contempt of sorts, ignoring them.
Charlie said they starting posting there as the election ramped up and that’s where they were getting traffic, more than any other platform they posted on. We know that young men made a difference, if not putting President Trump over to the victory column, and why is this? Because that’s where the younger women are even if the majority are batshit crazy.
That old quote that came to mind was gangster Willie Sutton once said when asked why he robbed banks, “because that’s where the money is.”
It's not like Musk needs the money.
“I’d like to see China losing control of Tik Tok. If it means Musk owning it - that’s fine. He turned X around. Maybe he can do the same with Tik Tok.”
I agree with you.
But Musk is in bed with China with some of his businesses. Not sure I trust this 100%
Yep. Banning TikTok is ridiculous on several levels. First, if my government wants me to have an enemy, let it declare war. Second, our government could ban Chinese newspapers or WeChat on the same bases they use to ban TikTok. Third, I really don’t care if China gathers my data - I mean, they’ve got as much right as all the corporations and government agencies already doing that. To sum it up, the banning of TikTok is just a clown and pony show put on by those favoring endless war.
“He turned X around.”
Not really. It’s better than it was, but it’s far from free speech. And it’s a worse product by far, and STILL filled with bots.
It's all about control and the government gets more power at the end of the day.
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