this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2025
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Summary

China is reportedly considering a plan for Elon Musk to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations to avoid a potential ban, according to Bloomberg.

The move would satisfy a U.S. law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok by Jan. 19 due to national security concerns.

If not resolved, U.S. service providers supporting TikTok could face penalties.

The plan, still preliminary, would have Musk oversee TikTok U.S. alongside X.

ByteDance’s awareness of the plan is unclear.

all 26 comments
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[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 hours ago

And Tiktokers are moving to RedNote lmao. It hit number one download on Apple I think recently.

[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 50 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

I give it 12 hours before Trump magically starts supporting the tiktok ban that he's been so against for the past year or so. And he'll say he's always been for banning it and how banning it supports Only True American Media. Etc etc etc.

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 35 points 21 hours ago

Turns out, there is a state worse than "dead".

[–] JBar2@lemmy.world 29 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

Bytedance/TT put out a statement that this is BS

[–] minnow@lemmy.world 19 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It's standard procedure to deny that a sale is happening untill the moment of no return because public reactions to the sale can impact negotiations. Rumors like the are denied no matter what, even if they're true.

So we can't believe them, but we also can't say for sure their lying. Basically we just have to wait and see.

[–] ikilledlaurapalmer@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

Bloomburg also has some of the worst tech reporting in the business

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 12 points 21 hours ago

Article seems to suggest that the government might be trying to make these plans without ByteDance's knowledge

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.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

This is the source, which is being cited by others: https://www.thewrap.com/tiktok-dismisses-report-of-elon-musk-sale-as-pure-fiction/

And the original source of the rumor is Bloomberg.

[–] orclev@lemmy.world 27 points 21 hours ago

Well, on the upside TikTok wouldn't be used by the CCP for spying and propaganda. On the downside it would be used by Musk for spying and propaganda. I'd rather just see it banned.

[–] SoupBrick@yiffit.net 15 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)
[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 17 points 21 hours ago

And if you thought he was bad before. Just you wait.

It’s time to switch to Loops.

[–] frickineh@lemmy.world 15 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Well, that's one way to get people to stop using it, I guess.

[–] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 1 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Most people aren't as obsessed about Musk as your average Lemmy user

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Nobody on lemmy is obsessed with numbnuts.

[–] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 1 points 7 hours ago

My front page says otherwise.

[–] frickineh@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

It's less about people's personal feelings about him and more that he turns everything he touches into a pile of shit that only a fanboy could love.

[–] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

It's not binary like that. Just because one doesn't avoid everything he touches like the plague doesn't mean they're a fanboy then. Most people simply don't care.

[–] frickineh@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, people care that the user experience goes downhill after he takes over. The only people claiming Twitter isn't hot garbage are the ones who actively like him.

[–] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 1 points 8 hours ago

It was hot garbage before Musk and people still kept using it. The world is not binary like that.

[–] galaskorz@discuss.online 3 points 16 hours ago
[–] Zier@fedia.io 4 points 20 hours ago

Make him pay $300 billion for it.

[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 3 points 19 hours ago

lmao I just can’t take this seriously anymore. I don’t care.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

If true, this is so incredibly dystopian.

Maybe the Chinese govt thinks Musk will be some combination of cooperative, and that his ownership will generally undermine the US, especially in respect to issues they're interested in.

[–] galaskorz@discuss.online 1 points 16 hours ago

It’s not.

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Musk & Trump have been talking about defunding CISA, FTC and SEC - that is, removing information security oversight, consumer protection oversight and financial oversight.

Musk is financially linked to China through EV battery production. It's no stretch of the imagination to think the PRC has some influence over him, which they've been building for more than a decade. So, Musk buys TikTok and expands his reach over social media (public influence), the PRC continues to have access for surveillance and influence campaigns, and Trump also benefits from the surveillance and influence. Everybody gets a piece of the action, and the federal agencies which would investigate, expose and attempt to block these relationships are disabled.