Politics China considers selling TikTok U.S. operations to Musk, Bloomberg reports

[SlyPokerDog]

• The Chinese government is considering a plan for Elon Musk to acquire TikTok’s U.S. business, 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 could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S., the report said.
• A TikTok spokesperson said in an email to CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”

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.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/13/china-considers-selling-tiktok-us-operations-to-musk-bloomberg-.html

 

[SlyPokerDog]

ELON MUSK TO BUY TIKTOK?!?
Well, here we go with buying our government!
Trump was initially the one behind wanting to ban TikTok for national security reasons four years ago. That ban then moved forward and passed through our government with bipartisan support.
Then after the 2024 election, TikTok and their owner ByteDance got advice from Elon Musk. They even met with Trump at Musk at Mar-a-Lago, and then lo and behold Trump changed his view on whether TikTok should be banned!
Now we have news tonight that if the ban goes through Elon Musk may be the buyer of TikTok, so all of this was all done with the intent of a back room deal all along! So disgusting!

- Amy Siskind

 

[julius]

They found a way to kill Tiktok and make money.

Smart business.

 

[RR7]

A good friend of mine has been working on this. Will be curious to get his in put

 

[Strenuus]

Whaaat... could have never seen that coming... whaaat

 

[ehizzy3]

I am as shocked now as I will be when someone Luigi’s Elon

 

[beast blazer]

George Carlin did a sketch about how we have "an illusion of choice", with only a few corporations owning all the major media outlets. So people figured out there were powerful interests filtering the content they were allowed to view.

That changed with the advent of the internet and social media platforms. But now we have the US banning tiktok, parts of Europe are threatening to ban X, and the Biden administration putting pressure on platforms to censor content.
Politicians will talk about how TikTok was being used spread "Chinese propaganda", but the political will to ban it came after anti-israeli videos went viral on that platform.

Whether you agree or disagree with them, those videos were produced by young adults in the US. You can say how scrolling through videos isn't good for their minds, but how is this different than watching TV, youtube, or playing video games?
The banning of TikTok is about information control. Banning entire platforms because someone doesn't agree with the information being spread in them isn't the ideal "American way".

Maybe more people on the left will wake up to this as their favorite platform gets banned. Because most on the left are in favor of government imposed censorship. And there are people on the right who support the banning of TikTok.
But this is the key point that people miss, as they cheer on the supressing voices they don't agree with, is that same power can and will be used against you at some point.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Perplexity AI bids to merge with TikTok US: Report

 

[GoZers]

View attachment 69972


George Carlin did a sketch about how we have "an illusion of choice", with only a few corporations owning all the major media outlets. So people figured out there were powerful interests filtering the content they were allowed to view.

That changed with the advent of the internet and social media platforms. But now we have the US banning tiktok, parts of Europe are threatening to ban X, and the Biden administration putting pressure on platforms to censor content.
Politicians will talk about how TikTok was being used spread "Chinese propaganda", but the political will to ban it came after anti-israeli videos went viral on that platform.

Whether you agree or disagree with them, those videos were produced by young adults in the US. You can say how scrolling through videos isn't good for their minds, but how is this different than watching TV, youtube, or playing video games?
The banning of TikTok is about information control. Banning entire platforms because someone doesn't agree with the information being spread in them isn't the ideal "American way".

Maybe more people on the left will wake up to this as their favorite platform gets banned. Because most on the left are in favor of government imposed censorship. And there are people on the right who support the banning of TikTok.
But this is the key point that people miss, as they cheer on the supressing voices they don't agree with, is that same power can and will be used against you at some point.

Don’t worry. Your hero idol boy will come in and save the day in a few days. He will fix the problem that he originally supported and all the morons will be so happy they’ll go buy a coin of his. What a guy.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

View attachment 69972


George Carlin did a sketch about how we have "an illusion of choice", with only a few corporations owning all the major media outlets. So people figured out there were powerful interests filtering the content they were allowed to view.

That changed with the advent of the internet and social media platforms. But now we have the US banning tiktok, parts of Europe are threatening to ban X, and the Biden administration putting pressure on platforms to censor content.
Politicians will talk about how TikTok was being used spread "Chinese propaganda", but the political will to ban it came after anti-israeli videos went viral on that platform.

Whether you agree or disagree with them, those videos were produced by young adults in the US. You can say how scrolling through videos isn't good for their minds, but how is this different than watching TV, youtube, or playing video games?
The banning of TikTok is about information control. Banning entire platforms because someone doesn't agree with the information being spread in them isn't the ideal "American way".

Maybe more people on the left will wake up to this as their favorite platform gets banned. Because most on the left are in favor of government imposed censorship. And there are people on the right who support the banning of TikTok.
But this is the key point that people miss, as they cheer on the supressing voices they don't agree with, is that same power can and will be used against you at some point.

You seem to be completely missing the fact that Right is far more censorious than the Left. Trump is suing media outlets simply because he doesn't like their reporting, even when it's provably true. He has been threatening the media in general that he will come after them if they criticize him. The Right is the one who has pushed for fact checking to be eliminated. Trump's "people" are not allowed to admit he lost in 2020. Trump lies pretty much every time he opens his mouth (again, provable). If you think Trump won't suppress opposition from the Left almost immediately, then you are dumber than you already look.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

I figured out long ago that, in general, Democrats want to control hows we act, Republicans want to control how we think. Personally, if I had to choose, I'd take the former every damn time.......

 

[THE HCP]

Well, that was quick. Tik Tok is back.

 

[julius]

Well, that was quick. Tik Tok is back.

Almost as if he did it to claim credit for bringing it back.

There's a sucker born every minute.

 

[beast blazer]

You seem to be completely missing the fact that Right is far more censorious than the Left. Trump is suing media outlets simply because he doesn't like their reporting, even when it's provably true. He has been threatening the media in general that he will come after them if they criticize him. The Right is the one who has pushed for fact checking to be eliminated. Trump's "people" are not allowed to admit he lost in 2020. Trump lies pretty much every time he opens his mouth (again, provable). If you think Trump won't suppress opposition from the Left almost immediately, then you are dumber than you already look.

Are you talking about the 15 Million dollar lawsuit that ABC settled with Trump, with a note of apology, admitting their guilt for defamation? And you consider a defamation lawsuit more dangerous to free speech that the government shutting down social media platforms, arresting people for social media posts (as the left is is doing in Europe), and pressuring social media platforms to censor info that disagrees with them (even if true).

 

[beast blazer]

Almost as if he did it to claim credit for bringing it back.

There's a sucker born every minute.

It wasn't banned under his watch. Banning it did had bipartisan support. And if this were some secret ploy by Trump, why the fuck didn't Biden veto it? Do you every stop and question the nonsense that comes out of your mouth?

You loony lefties must fabricate things in our own mind, to justify your TDS. Trump could rescue a bunch of starving puppies and you'd find a reason to complain about it.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Almost as if he did it to claim credit for bringing it back.

There's a sucker born every minute.

Yep. TikTok very obviously in on Trump bs.

When taken down it said it was Bidens fault on the notification and then credited Trump for coming back.

 

[julius]

Yep. TikTok very obviously in on Trump bs.

When taken down it said it was Bidens fault on the notification and then credited Trump for coming back.

and his cult will believe him, and ignore facts.

 

[Chris Craig]

Yep. TikTok very obviously in on Trump bs.

When taken down it said it was Bidens fault on the notification and then credited Trump for coming back.

Yep, just trying to make Trump a hero to get the right more of that young vote.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Yep, just trying to make Trump a hero to get the right more of that young vote.

Probably negotiated for Trump being willing to block the ban.

 

[Strenuus]

This was the plan all along. T*ump just needed to find a way to make him look like a hero. He's a fucking racist, a fucking bigot, and a fucking idiots.

Remember, if you voted for him, you got conned. This will all be your fault.

 

[GoZers]

What sane person thinks it is in any way a good idea to have billionaires running the country. The richest men in the world. Controlling our social media, owning the President. The current right are the most anti-American humans in the nations history. They are the opposite of what America is supposed to be and they consider themselves patriots. Fucking jokes. Imagine what WW2 servicemen would think of them. Embarrassment to mankind.

 

[PDXFonz]

I can hear the morons now….

“Trump saved tik tok, we have to keep Trump in office to keep tik Tok. 4 more years! 4 more years!”

Dummies

 

[Phatguysrule]

I can hear the morons now….

“Trump saved tik tok, we have to keep Trump in office to keep tik Tok. 4 more years! 4 more years!”

Dummies

It was dumb to ever make it a TikTok ban.

Dems and Biden set themselves up for this by not doing the right thing and setting up actual data and privacy protections for all social media, and maybe even all companies.

Limiting this ban to TikTok was a blunder of monumental proportions.

And the Dems just keep on doing this. Trying to conduct "business politics as usual" which the Republicans know they will do, and will gladly use against Democrats. Removing the moral high ground the Democrats have been able to claim in the past.

Democrats will actually need to start doing the right thing if they want to beat this Republican party.

 

[Hoopguru]

Well, in two years new elections & presidential campaign will take shape.

 

[barfo]

It was dumb to ever make it a TikTok ban.

Dems and Biden set themselves up for this by not doing the right thing and setting up actual data and privacy protections for all social media, and maybe even all companies.

It isn't limited to TikTok.

Limiting this ban to TikTok was a blunder of monumental proportions.

Or it would be, if it was. But it's not.

And the Dems just keep on doing this. Trying to conduct "business politics as usual" which the Republicans know they will do, and will gladly use against Democrats. Removing the moral high ground the Democrats have been able to claim in the past.

Democrats will actually need to start doing the right thing if they want to beat this Republican party.

Agreed, since the voters clearly want corruption, greed, and vindictiveness, the Democrats will surely succeed by not banning TikTok and other enemy-controlled apps.

barfo

 

[Phatguysrule]

It isn't limited to TikTok.



Or it would be, if it was. But it's not.



Agreed, since the voters clearly want corruption, greed, and vindictiveness, the Democrats will surely succeed by not banning TikTok and other enemy-controlled apps.

barfo

You're kind of right, it's a ByteDance ban... The point still stands.

This wouldn't be a problem if we simply had better rights over our data (consumer protections). But Democrats (their lobbiest daddies) want that data as well. So they can't actually support good consumer protections.

Since they are being greedy and taking advantage of the consumer the Republicans can make Dems look like the corrupt stupid idiots that they are acting like.

 

[barfo]

You're kind of right, it's a ByteDance ban... The point still stands.

It's not limited to ByteDance either.

barfo