Bloomberg: ‘China Discusses Sale of TikTok U.S. To Musk’ ⇥ bloomberg.com
Beijing officials strongly prefer that TikTok remains under the ownership of parent ByteDance Ltd., the people say, and the company is contesting the impending ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court. But the justices signaled during arguments on Jan. 10 that they are likely to uphold the law. Senior Chinese officials had already begun to debate contingency plans for TikTok as part of an expansive discussion on how to work with Donald Trump’s administration, one of which involves [Elon] Musk, said the people, asking not to be identified revealing confidential discussions.
There are some strange things about this report, like how it carries no byline, which means its credibility rests entirely on how much you trust anonymous sources giving Bloomberg information about government activities in China. Also, Todd Spangler, of Variety, has a quote from TikTok saying it is “pure fiction”.
Then there is this paragraph, later in the article, which does not make very much sense to me:
A majority of the Supreme Court justices suggested the security concerns take priority over free speech, although they have yet to issue a formal decision. President-elect Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, has sought to delay the TikTok ban — which takes effect Jan. 19 — so he can work on the negotiations. He has said he wants to “save” the app and there’s been speculation he could take last-minute action to sidestep the ban.
The obvious question — of how someone who does not yet have power is able to take “last-minute action” to avoid a ban — goes unanswered in this article. Maybe I am missing something. Or, maybe Trump’s golden toilet seat was borne of the fires of Mount Doom.
This whole idea — if it even exists — is dumb as rocks. If you believe social media platforms should not overtly support a particular candidate or ideology, too bad — that is precisely how Musk used X during the last U.S. presidential election. If you are of the opinion that TikTok could be too compromised by government influence, Musk is working directly with the incoming administration. If you think Chinese government influence is a specifically corrupting force for TikTok, they have leverage over Musk thanks to Tesla’s manufacturing plant and sales in China. Think Musk is going to stand up to quasi-authoritarian bullies at home and abroad? Doubtful. This solves basically none of the concerns raised by detractors.
This report sounds, at best, like wishcasting by people who stand to benefit from Musk paying too much for TikTok’s U.S. operations. Little wonder why nobody wanted to put their name on it.