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The Chinese government is considering a plan that would make this possible Elon Musk will take over TikTok's US operations to prevent an effective ban on the app, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
The contingency plan is one of several options China is considering in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on whether to uphold a law requiring China's ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations of TikTok by Jan. 19, according to a report citing anonymous sources.
After that date, third-party ISPs would be penalized for supporting TikTok's operations in the country.
Under the plan, Musk will oversee both X, which he currently owns, and TikTok's U.S. business, Bloomberg said. However, Chinese government officials have not yet decided whether this will continue, the report said, noting that the plan is still preliminary.
The report says it is unclear whether ByteDance knows about the Chinese government's plans and whether TikTok and Musk are involved in the discussions. Senior Chinese officials debate contingency plans for TikTok's future in the U.S. as part of broader discussions on cooperation with the president-elect Donald Trump– added the report.
A TikTok spokesperson said in an email to CNBC: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.” X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments on a 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 millions of U.S. users, while the U.S. government said ByteDance's ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk.
With the Supreme Court appearing to side with the government, TikTok may turn to Trump when his second term begins on January 20. Trump, who supported a ban on TikTok during his first administration, has since changed his mind on the matter. Late last month he insisted Supreme Court to intervene and forcibly delay Biden's ban to give him time to find a “political solution.”
Trump's rhetoric on TikTok began to change after him we met in February with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor and major investor in ByteDance, who also owns the owner's shares Social truthTrump's social media company.
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