ByteDance, the parent company of the short video platform TikTok, has responded to reports of its sale to American billionaire Elon Musk.
This came amid plans to outlaw the operations and use of TikTok in the United States (US).
Authorities formulated a law that is expected to take effect on January 19, ahead of the US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
According to Bloomberg, the move saw Chinese authorities explore opportunities for Musk to acquire TikTok under a divestiture agreement for its US operations.
The report indicated that the authorities considered selling a 40% stake in the platform to Musk.
However, TikTok representative dismissed the claims, terming them “pure fiction.”
On Friday, January 10, the US Supreme Court heard TikTok’s appeal of the law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the wildly popular online video-sharing platform or shut it down.
The top court is holding oral arguments in the case nine days before TikTok faces a ban unless ByteDance divests from the popular app.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden signed the law in April 2024, which would block TikTok from US app stores and web hosting services unless ByteDance sells its stake by January 19.
The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda. China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims.
Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, has emerged as an unlikely ally of the platform in a reversal from his first term, when the Republican leader tried to ban the app, citing national security concerns.
Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, filed a brief with the Supreme Court last month asking it to pause the law.
In the amicus curiae — or “friend of the court” — brief, Sauer made it clear the president-elect does not take a position on the legal merits of the current case.
Meanwhile, TikTok banned over 60,000 accounts in Kenya and removed more than 360,000 videos for violating its rules.
The short video platform revealed in its Quarter Two Community Guidelines Enforcement Report that action was taken due to strict adherence to its regulations.
According to the platform, 95% of videos were taken down within 24 hours, and 99.1% were proactively removed before users reported them.
